Beautiful Disaster
by DominoTyler
Summary: "He needs help, Granger, and you're the only one we can think of to give it." Hermione returns to Hogwarts for her seventh year and is given a task by Blaise Zabini and co. to make Head Boy forget his past's pain. Will she accept? Will he be ok?
1. Chapter 1

I was reading the depressing TRUE story of Julia Holcomb and Steven Tyler told by Julia and not written by a drugged up Tyler, and it made me sad. To make me feel better, I wrote this! Please enjoy it or I'll cry!

I don't own Harry Potter or the song Beautiful Disaster by Kelly Clarkson.

...

**Oh and I don't know  
>I Don't know what he's after<br>But he's so beautiful  
>Such a beautiful disaster<br>And if I could hold on  
>Through the tears and the laughter<br>Would it be beautiful?  
>Or just a beautiful disaster<strong>

...

Hermione glanced up from her book when she felt an annoying ball of parchment slam into her face. Normally, she would have glared at the hooligan throwing papers during History of Magic just because the professor was clueless, but she noticed who the culprit was. Why was Blaise Zabini throwing papers in class? Didn't he have better breeding or whatever those snotty purebloods called it?

She looked the ball of paper, only to find her name scrawled across the folded parchment. Confused, she opened the little ball of paper and saw a message for herself was written in a neat, legible hand on the inside.

Miss Granger,

I have found it necessary to invite you to classroom number 3 in the dungeons for a chat tonight after you've completed your patrolling of the castle. My sources have told me the time and place you will finish your patrols, so I have positioned myself just so that you cannot get away, and if you wish to keep your Head Girl position, I recommend that you do not skip out on our meeting tonight.

Sincerely,

Blaise Zabini

The letter left Hermione more confused than she had originally been while she wondered why Blaise Zabini would ever possibly need to give her a letter, and during History of Magic of all places.

Shrugging, she slid the paper into her bag and decided to wait until after class to figure out what she would do about her newfound predicament. Blaise had made it very clear that it would be most difficult and consequential to try and slide her way out of the situation.

So, after class, History of Magic being her final class of the day, she gathered her things, taking her time, and told Harry and Ron to go on without her. She quickly lied and told them she needed to pick up a book in the library before supper.

It wasn't a full lie-she really was going to the library. She just wasn't going to be getting a book.

On her way there, she began her thought process.

What on Earth could Blaise Zabini, best friend of Draco Malfoy, my arch-enemy, possibly want with me, Hermione Granger, arch-enemy of his best friend?

There were several things that came to mind-tutoring, rape, advice, seduction, payment for doing his homework, and plenty of other things related either to homework or sex, which, she tried not to flatter herself, but she couldn't help being at least a tiny bit paranoid.

If he did ask for homework help, what would she say? She sighed. Probably yes. What would it hurt? She had nothing against him, except that he had poor taste in best friends. She wasn't racist, didn't care about blood status, and firmly believed in House Unity. So she had no reason to deny helping him.

Unless it had to do with sex, in which case, she would most definitely deny him anything, and may even proceed to break his nose at having the gall to ask her for such a thing.

Again, she turned her mind away from that, preferring not to flatter herself.

When she had reached the library, she wondered if maybe it wouldn't be just him. What if he brought along Malfoy? That would be quite awkward, wouldn't it? What if he did? Would she leave?

But she knew she was too curious of a person to leave. She knew even before she'd had to think about it that she'd be going. Her wondering what he could possibly want from her was driving her too mad to say no to this.

Shaking her head, she checked out a random book and left for supper, where her friends were waiting for her.

...

"On Bestiality Spells?" Harry said incredulously, staring at the title of the book Hermione had cluelessly checked out.

She shrugged. "It's for a paper I'm writing."

"For what class?" Harry exclaimed, disgusted.

"For... Thaumatology?"

Harry snorted. "Why would anyone need to take a Thaumatology class?" he said. "And what on earth does Bestiality have to do with Thaumatology?"

"Hermione, you're being obvious," Ginny said. "You just went to the library to think. Be honest."

She sighed. "Okay, it's true."

"What did you need to think about?" Ron asked, stuffing his face and speaking without a single thread of tact in his voice.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't see how it's any of your business, Ronald."

"Is it about that note Blaise Zabini threw at you in class today?" Harry asked, politely eating his food in the way his aunt and uncle taught him-so as not to be embarrassed by him when they allowed him to dine with them during gatherings of any sort.

"It might be," Hermione replied, buttering her toast lightly.

"Blaise Zabini threw you a note?" Ginny said. "That's odd. What did he want?"

Hermione sighed. There really was no reason to keep them out of the loop. "He wants to speak to me after my patrols tonight."

Harry quirked an eyebrow as Ginny tried to help her brother while he choked on his supper. "What did he want to see you for?"

Hermione shrugged. "He didn't say."

"You can't meet a Slytherin after curfew!" Ron exclaimed. "That's bloody mad, if you ask me!"

"Well, no one asked you, did they, Ronald?" Hermione sniffed.

"So, you're going, then?" Harry asked.

She nodded. "Yes. I want to know why he wants to talk to me. And I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Ronald. Plus, Blaise has been perfectly polite on the two occasions I ever spoke with him. And he wouldn't try anything."

"What makes you so sure?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Just a feeling."

"This is a lot to trust in 'just a feeling,' Hermione," Ginny chided. "Plus, while you may be able to trust him, what if he brings along Malfoy or Goyle or Nott or something? They can't be trusted very well, now, can they?"

Hermione shrugged. "Like I said, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I did survive my travels with Harry, did I not? I think that's proof enough that I can take care of a few Slytherins."

"She was named Witch's Weekly's 'Strongest Admirable Witch of the Decade,'" Ginny agreed wholeheartedly.

Hermione smiled at her help. "Thank you, Ginny. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to get some homework done before my patrols. I shall see you all tomorrow and tell you how everything went."

On that final note, Hermione left her friends in the Great Hall to enjoy their dinner, while Hermione returned to her Head Girl room to do her homework.

While her room was also connected to a Heads Common room, she had never gone in. Because it was also connected to the Head Boy's room. And the Head Boy was Draco Malfoy.

...

Well. I haven't much of a clue where I'm going with this. I mean...I sort of do. But I was just trying to cheer myself up after reading such a horrible thing, and I picked up my iPod and started writing. I didn't choose the song until _after_ I'd written. I guess I just bite at one-shots.

So, if you like it and would like to see more, drop a review. If you hate it and want to flame me, bring. It. On.

Bye! ^^


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! I finished 3 chapters while I was camping, so I think I'll post them all at once...

Please enjoy!

...

Hermione crept around the castle, her wand held out in front of her defensively, lit brightly so she could see everything around her, but not bright enough that anyone out of bed would be able to spot her and escape in time to get out of point reduction or a detention or two.

Even though no one could see her, a lot of people on her route she knew had gotten out of it just because her mind was too full to notice them.

Even though she had resolved to go and see what Blaise wanted, she couldn't help but feel anxious about the meeting. She couldn't stop herself from wondering what they wanted-she had subconsciously decided that there was more than one person up to this-and what her reply would be to anything they could possibly ask.

She had finally decided on the worst possible scenario-a group of Slytherins were planning on raping her and then they would steal all of the information she had stored in her mind for the Order and kill everyone she knew and loved-when she realised her patrols were over and she was standing in front of the classroom Blaise had wanted to meet her in.

She took a deep breath and placed a hand on the doorknob. It was unlocked.

She poked her wand inside first. She told herself it was so she could see, but it was really only to protect herself ahead of time, just in case. When she saw that there was no one in her line of vision, she stepped inside and looked around. No one.

She smirked to herself, twirling her wand in her fingers. _Hermione Granger_, she thought to herself. _You are the master. You intimidated the most stoic Slytherin there is._

"Hey, Granger."

Hermione gasped and dropped her wand, spinning around in time to see the door being thrown shut by none other than Blaise Zabini. Hermione blushed, glad that it was dark in there. Of course he'd come-_he_ asked _her._

It was then that she noticed that he had, indeed, brought several people with him. Everyone she'd expected if he'd decided to bring people along-Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott II, Gregory Goyle and some others she hadn't expected, like Harvey Thorn and Landon Smith. No Malfoy, she realised with a sigh.

"Zabini," Hermione said once she'd caught her breath. She picked up her wand. "What did you want me here for?"

He grinned. "I actually haven't planned a single thing to say. I didn't expect you to come."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Right. That's why you're here. Why would you even ask if you knew I wouldn't come?"

He shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

Hermione sighed. "Right. Well, you're waisting my time, and if you haven't got anything to say, then I'm leaving. And you should think about getting back to your Common Room if you don't want me to take points."

"Granger, wait!" Blaise exclaimed, grabbing her wrist as she tried to leave. "There is something."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"It's Malfoy."

Had she heard him correctly?

"Pardon?"

"We need some help with Draco," Pansy chimed in. "See, he's been really distant since the war-"

"And how the bloody hell is that my problem?" Hermione demanded before they could finish.

Pansy glared. "Just hear us out, okay!"

Hermione sighed and backed away from the door, taking a seat on one of the desks and making herself comfortable. "Alright, fine. Go ahead."

"Good," Blaise said. "Malfoy is our friend, Hermione. We've all grown up with him. We've known him since before Hogwarts."

She rose her eyebrows. "Touching."

He glared. "Anyways, as Pansy said, we've noticed he's been very distant since the Battle at Hogwarts. After the battle, he and his mother ran away from Mr. Malfoy, who is still a big part of the war. His father is sending him threats, saying that he'll kill him if he doesn't join their side of the war."

Hermione was shocked. "His own father?" she whispered.

Blaise nodded. "And to top it all off...well...his girlfriend got involved."

Hermione's gaze briefly flickered to Pansy without herself even noticing. Pansy smiled sadly. "Not me. His real girlfriend."

Hermione nodded and looked back at Blaise, curious for more information. "Malfoy has a girlfriend?"

"Well..." Blaise said, shuffling his feet and scratching the back of his neck, "...had."

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she began piecing things together. She had gotten involved..._had_ a girlfriend...

"She was just trying to defend him," Blaise said. "She was trying to convince Mr. Malfoy that this was best for everyone if Draco stayed out of the war. He told her that she shouldn't meddle in the affairs of Wizards."

Hermione's eyebrows skyrocketed. "She was a muggle?"

Blaise nodded solemnly.

Hermione got off of the desk. "That's it, I'm leaving. This is the crummiest prank I've ever been subjected to."

"What?" Blaise said, his brow lowering. "What are you talking about? I'm dead serious!"

"Draco Malfoy would never, _ever_ date a muggle!" Hermione exclaimed. "He's the one who made fun of my blood status every single day before things got bad."

"Hear that?" Blaise replied. "Before things got bad. He met Kourtney during the war. She had been adopted by a Pureblood witch and wizard, and to show that he didn't like how traitorous they were being, Lord Voldemort kidnapped her and had Draco watch her."

Hermione sat back down on the desk. That seemed reasonable, she supposed.

"As you can probably guess, Draco fell in love with her," Blaise continued, glad to see her sitting back down to listen. "She's the main reason he left the war, and the main reason Lucius had her killed."

"This is all very sad and everything," Hermione cut in, "but I can't help but wonder how I'm involved in all of this."

"Well," Blaise said. "He won't listen to any of us. We're trying to comfort him and make him feel better, but he won't listen to anyone he's close to. So, we thought maybe he could talk to someone he hates."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "So why me? Why not one of the endless other people he dislikes?"

"Would it surprise you if I told you he only hates a few people in this world?"

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Yes."

Blaise grinned. "Well, be surprised. Besides, we can only see him during meals and class. You have access to him every other time of the day."

Hermione rose her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Did you forget that he's Head Boy? You two live together, for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione crossed her arms. "I don't have any idea what you guys expect me to do. Like you said, he hates me. How could I possibly help him?"

"Be nice to him," Blaise suggested. "Let him know that there's still hope in the world. Become his friend."

Hermione snorted. "Yeah. Right. And what's in it for me? This is a pretty big sacrifice, befriending my worst enemy."

Blaise crossed his arms as well. "For a Gryffindor, you're not acting very noble."

Hermione sighed.

"Come on," Blaise pled. "He needs help, Granger, and you're the only one we can think of to give it."

Hermione looked down at her hands. "Alright," she said. "I'll see what I can do."

There was a sigh of relief from everyone in the room. She jumped off the desk and picked up her wand.

"But no promises or anything," Hermione said before she left. "And any injuries caused in the process are going to be paid back."

Blaise laughed. "Alright, Granger, I accept. And if you can help him be happy again, it'll be in your favour."

He held up a small leather pouch filled with coins of all sizes.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Like you said, Zabini. Gryffindor's are supposed to be noble. I'll see what I can do."

She left the Slytherins behind and snuck back to the Heads living area, going in through the common room for the first time since they arrived at Hogwarts three weeks before.


	3. Chapter 3

As promised, chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed chapter 2, and will enjoy this one. I have one more already written for as soon as I post this, and then another chapter for my Chip Away the Stone followers, and then I think that's it. ^^

Enjoy!

...

Hermione poked her head into the common room, surprised to find Draco was sitting in there quietly doing his homework. She had no idea he'd even ever been in here.

He looked up from his homework and smirked. "I thought you swore upon pain of death that you would not step into this common room while I was alive?"

Hermione shrugged, remembering the argument they'd had over who got what room the very first day they returned, and stepped inside. "I changed my mind."

"After only 3 weeks?" Draco replied incredulously. "I don't believe it. You want something."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What could I possibly want from you, Malfoy?"

He shrugged. "Money. Power. A good shag."

Hermione glared. This was going to be very difficult, and there wasn't even anything going for her in doing this. The only thing that kept her from turning away and quitting was the knowledge that he was upset, and over a girl. A _muggle_ girl.

"You're so full of yourself, Malfoy," Hermione snapped.

Something changed in his eyes suddenly, and his smirked dropped from his face. He shrugged and looked back down at his essay. "Whatever, Granger," be muttered as he started writing. "Maybe you're right."

Hermione stared, shocked speechless. "What?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Was there something you needed, Granger, or are you just here to insult me and make stupid comments?"

Hermione's jaw snapped shut and she glared at him. "I was just..." She had no idea how to start. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Right. And I was just painting a picture of a rainbow. What did you really need?"

"I'm being serious," Hermione insisted.

Draco appraised her for a moment. "Blaise and Pansy put you up to this, didn't they?"

"What? No!"

"It's alright, you can tell me," he said, starting to pack up his homework. He stood up and reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small leather pouch. "How much are they paying you to do this; I'll top it and pretend to be happy whenever I'm with them."

"Malfoy, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Hermione said, making up a lie along the way. "I just noticed how quiet you've been and how you haven't been insulting people lately, and was just wondering if it was something you'd like to talk about."

His eyes went cold. "Well, mind your own business in that case," he said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, and leaving without another word. Hermione grumbled as she stomped over to her room and slammed the door, even though there was no one there to witness her anger.

She was halfway done with her Monday homework when she realised it was Friday night. Grumbling to herself, she got in the shower and prepared for bed.

...

It was Saturday, and Draco told himself he was just going to the library to do homework, but he knew that Blaise would be there for his own homework, so he knew he was really going to confront him and Pansy about talking to Granger. He didn't know exactly what they'd wanted her to do or how they had convinced her-all he knew was that he did not want them butting in. He never asked for help, he didn't need it.

He dropped his book-bag off at a table and began perusing the book selection. It was seven, which meant he was doing transfiguration. Blaise followed a VERY strict homework schedule, so Draco wasn't surprised to see Blaise looking for a transfiguration book.

"Oh, Blaise," he said nonchalantly. "Fancy meeting you here."

Blaise rolled his eyes, knowing Draco knew he would be there. "What do you want, Draco?"

Draco tried to look as innocent as possible as he said, "What do you mean?"

"You knew I'd be here," Blaise said, pulling a book off of the shelf and opening it to the table of contents. It seemed to suit his needs, and he took it back to his table, spread out with all of his homework and extra-credit and such. He sat down and started flipping through the book. "What do you want?"

"What did you tell Granger?"

Blaise paused in turning the page. "What do you mean?"

"You know very well what I mean!" Draco snapped, slamming a hand over his book so Blaise couldn't keep reading and ignore him. "Hermione came into the common room, something she _swore_ she'd never do, and asked how I was! She asked me _how I was_!"

Blaise rolled his eyes again. "You have been pretty distant lately. Maybe she noticed and was just trying to be nice."

"To me?" Draco replied. "I don't think so. I think you bribed her to be nice to me to find out what's wrong with me."

Blaise raised his eyebrows. "So you admit there's something wrong?"

"No, I did not," Draco snapped. "You admit to bribing her?"

"Of course not, I've never spoken to the girl in my life," Blaise replied, removing Draco's hand from his book. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of homework, and a strict schedule to follow. I'll see you on my break."

Draco glared at him, but decided that Pansy might be easier. He picked up his book-bag and went out in search of the bane of his school years-excluding Potter, Weasley and Granger, of course.

He found her just where he'd expected to-surrounded by her "friends," trying to get a group of Ravenclaw boys to look their way.

"Parkinson!"

Pansy jumped and looked away from one of the boys whose attention she caught, her flirtatious expression dropping, but quickly returning when she saw who was talking to her.

"Draco!" She exclaimed. "What brings you here?"

Draco glared and the girls around Pansy giggled. "I think you know. We need to talk."

Pansy smiled up at him sweetly. "Okay, let's talk." She fluttered her eyelashes.

Draco glared sharper and grabbed her wrists, pulling her to her feet and ripping her away from her "friends."

"What did you say to Granger last night?"

The alarm in her eyes gave her away, but she lied anyways. She sneered. "Why on Earth would I talk to the mudblood?" She took his hand. "Come _on_, Draco, you know that's not me."

Draco wrenched his hand from hers. "I intend to find out. Granger won't tell me, Blaise won't tell me, but I want you to butt out. You have no business trying to make me 'feel better' or whatever it is you're paying her to do."

"Draco, did you ever think that maybe they didn't tell you anything because there's nothing to tell?" Pansy said, completely unaffected by his rejection from holding her hand.

Draco glared. "I doubt it. Granger doesn't just ask me how I am, and it's too suspicious that you guys have been trying to cheer me up these past few weeks in the most ridiculous ways. This is the most ridiculous yet, Parkinson. Leave me alone."

"Whatever, Draco," Pansy said. "I'll see you later."

"Don't count on it," Draco muttered before stomping away, more frustrated now than when he'd first set out to find his friends.

He would get to the bottom of this. They needed to butt out of his life, or they'd only find themselves as hurt as he was mow.


	4. Chapter 4

Final chapter of the day unless inspiration strikes and I write another!

Enjoy!

...

Hermione found herself watching Draco closer and closer over the next week. She didn't dare go and 'see how he was' again for a while, until she could figure out some sort of plan of action. Hermione was known for her stubbornness when it meant it was for the benefit for others, and she was involved now. She couldn't just walk away knowing that Draco was upset and she could help him.

Now her only problem was _how _to help him.

Which was why she took to discreetly watching him during classes, during meal times, out on the grounds where he'd took to taking walks around the lake and along the castle all by himself. His expression when he was alone hardly ever changed. It was always sad, except for the occasional small, nostalgic smile that sometimes graced his lips. When he looked like that, he was nearly heartbreaking, and Hermione started to grow angry with him. With him all upset, it was bringing everyone around him down, and he had no right to do that, especially not to her.

She'd lost friends in the war! She'd lost her parents! She had it on her that they were still missing somewhere in Australia with no memory that she'd even ever existed. She had more of a right to be upset. She'd even lost Viktor in the war, along with a lot of friends from Hogwarts, even muggle childhood friends that were involved in various ways.

He needed to open his eyes and realise he had survived the war, and even though some hadn't, his life wasn't over. If they'd loved him, they wouldn't want him to die wishing he were with them, they'd want him to move on and live and be happy.

Which was now her job, she realised.

So, it was on her to cheer up Draco, for every last person he was mourning. Which might be difficult, if one of them was a past muggle girlfriend. And he must have _really_ liked her if she were muggle. He hated muggles. If anyone knew that, it was Hermione.

Hermione started to go in through the common room every day, ignoring Draco when he spoke to her, giving her a hard time about going in while Draco was still alive.

One day he sneered when she entered. "Do you think I'm dead or something, Granger?"

"Maybe it's because you're always acting dead," she returned snappishly.

They fell into a routine of Hermione entering the room and Draco badgering her, which was always returned by a witty reply from Hermione. She noticed that just this little thing seemed to cheer him up, if only a small, teensy bit. It gave him something to look forward, even if it only lasted about a second or two. It gave him a sort of constant, something that happened every single day that he at least _used _to find joy in. Something from his past that he enjoyed.

One day, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks after her rude reply. She turned and stared at him incredulously. _He laughed._

It was the smallest laugh ever, but she couldn't even remember the last time she'd heard such an odd sound coming from that boy.

He seemed shocked himself, but after he realised Hermione was there he closed his mouth and shook his head, forming his facial features into a proper glare.

"What do you want, Granger?" He snapped.

She glared back and didn't reply, going right into her room. She flopped down on her bed. "It seems," she whispered to herself, "that I'm winning."

Hermione realised one day how much he looked forward to their single sentence banters when she stopped in the library before going to her room to drop off her book-bag before supper, as she did every day.

She still came back, of course, just about 20 minutes later than she normally would.

"Where have you been?" he snapped when she walked in.

She stopped in a moment of shock, but then she glared and kept walking towards her door. "I didn't realise you needed to know where I was 24/7," she replied.

"Well, I-er-"

"Right," Hermione said, almost to her door. "Well, my reply to whatever it was you had planned to say to me today is 'Stuff it, Malfoy.'"

He grinned-_grinned!_

Hermione stared at him with her mouth hanging open, until he glared. "Well?" He demanded. "Are you leaving or not?"

She snapped her jaw shut and left him, a glare fixed on her face. But when she got into her room, she grinned. Oh, yes. She was definitely winning this time.

...

One time, her final class of the day, History of Magic, one of her only classes without Malfoy, ended early because Seamus accidentally set his notes on fire while practicing something for charms. Hermione went to her common room to drop off her book-bag so she could spend her Friday in the common room with the others, when she spotted something on the table. It made her naturally curious. Draco was-at least he _had _been-always extremely careful about anything private. Sharing rooms with her, she'd expect him to keep everything he owned locked up in his room, protected by fifty different wards to keep Hermione out.

But this paper was just sitting there. Hermione looked around, realising that her class had been let out only about ten minutes earlier than it should have, and she didn't have all of the time in the world. Quickly, she raised her wand to check for anything protecting the paper. Absolutely nothing at all. Looking around once more for good measure, Hermione picked up the paper, telling herself she only wanted to see what it was.

Shocked, she realised it was a letter from Draco's father.

This time, she convinced herself it was so she could understand better what she was getting herself into. She read the letter hungrily, searching for every last detail on what Blaise and Pansy had been explaining to her.

Her jaw dropped. That a _father _could say things like this was horrible. Lucius wrote fiercely. He would have Draco killed if he didn't return to the war. He called him so many awful names-useless, an idiot, mental-and many that Hermione hardly ever heard, words that when you hear them, you hope the person was only joking. He was heartless and cruel in this letter. He even threatened the life of Narcissa-_his own wife!-_if Drafo didn't return.

"Does it surprise you that he says things like that to me?"

Hermione was so stunned to hear a voice that she choked on her gasp and fell down from turning so quickly. She gasped when she hit the ground. "Malfoy!"

He glared at her. "This isn't even the worst of what he's said to me, so don't even say anything."

Hermione watched Draco pick up the letter and fold it, shoving it into his back pocket, her eyes wide and too surprised to even stand up.

He sneered down at her. "Are you planning on staying on the floor?"

She shook her head and got to her feet, discreetly rubbing her backside, hoping some of the sudden pain she felt there would go away.

Then she looked at her feet, unsettled as she found herself guilty. "Sorry I read your letter."

She chanced a look at his stunned face before leaving, not waiting for a reply. She left through the bedroom exit after dropping off her book-bag, too much on her mind to be able to listen to her friends' conversations, but knowing she would elicit suspicions and more questions if she didn't go at all.

...

I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try and get the next chapter written quickly! ^^


	5. Chapter 5

"Hermione, why are you being so quiet?"

Hermione looked sharply away from the fire to Harry. He was looking at her, concerned for his friend.

"You hardly ate anything at supper, and you've barely said a word."

She offered a smile. "I'm fine, Harry, don't be silly. I'm just thinking about my parents is all."

Harry gave her a sympathetic smile and patted her hand. "You look sort of tired. You want me to walk you back to your common room?"

She stood up. "Thank you, Harry, but I don't want to be too much trouble."

He smiled. "Nah, it's okay. Ginny already went to sleep, and, quite frankly, Ron isn't giving me much other than a few nods and a bunch of crap about Lavender being the love of his life."

Hermione rolled her eyes and tried not to get upset about that. She smiled at Harry. "In that case, sure."

"I'll be back in a few minutes, Ron."

Ron turned away from Lavender just long enough to nod to the two of them, then returned to his business. Harry glared. Couldn't he be more considerate with Hermione around? He knew Hermione still loved him. Sometimes, his friend could really be an ignorant git.

They chatted for a while as they walked along, about nothing of any real importance-homework, who was dating who, the Order-when Harry mentioned something about Draco.

"And Sirius is actually considering letting Malfoy join the Order!" He said.

Hermione looked from her feet to Harry quickly. "What?"

"That's what I said! I mean, Sirius is a smart guy, but he knows the Malfoys! He once told me that Lucius set several of his birthday presents on fire one year when he was seven! He can't expect Malfoy to be any better than him."

"Yeah," Hermione said, thinking back to the letter. "I wonder what he's thinking."

Harry shook his head, then looked Hermione in the face. "Mione, are you alright? You look pale all of a sudden."

She smiled and nodded. "Of course I'm alright, Harry. Just thinking. You know how I am."

Harry returned her smile. "Well, sleep well, Hermione. See you tomorrow morning."

She nodded and he patted her arm before walking back to Gryffindor Tower. She said the password and, without even thinking, wandered into the common room.

Draco's eyes snapped up to hers. He glared icily before returning to the paper he was writing. Hermione sat down on the couch. Draco sighed.

"Was there something you needed?"

"You're joining the Order?"

His eyes grew wide before he glowered sharply. "Who told you?"

"Harry did."

"How did he find out?"

"He's in the Order," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sirius Black is his godfather, remember?"

Draco went back to his paper again.

"What are you writing?"

"Why is it any of your business?"

Hermione glared this time and stood. "Sorry. I'll just go."

Draco looked for a moment as if he were going to say something, but he shook his head and returned to his letter, which, Hermione noticed, was adressed to Sirius Black. He glared, covering up the words, and Hermione turned and stomped over to her room, wrenching the door open and slamming it shut, glad Draco was there to witness how she felt about this. She heard him snort at her tantrum. She scowled at the door and got into bed, forgetting her pajamas in her frustration.

...

Then next morning at breakfast, Hermione recieved a letter.

"Who sent you a letter?"

She knew he didn't mean to sound so rude, but it gave her an excuse to look daggers at Ron.

"I have friends, Ronald," she snapped, then took the opened the letter. Upon inspection, she saw it was from Blaise.

"Dear Granger,

To anyone else, this will just look like a love letter from a boy named 'Len' who lives in America.

Pansy and I have noticed that Draco isn't as sad as usual, but not much else has changed. We were wondering if you were doing anything at all."

Hermione glared pointedly at Blaise, who laughed.

"Who's it from?" Harry asked.

"Oh-just a boy I used to date," Hermione said, waving him off. She returned to the letter.

"We've decided to take it into our hands to push things along. We're going to set you up on a blind date with him for the next Hogsmeade trip. Meet us at the Hogs Head at noon."

Hermione's jaw dropped, and Harry looked over his shoulder. He crinkled his nose. "Yeesh, Mione. What's with this guy? Does he have to be so detailed?"

"He won't leave me alone," she mumbled absently before reading again.

"Anyways, Granger, we're really grateful that you're at least trying-we've noticed a small change in his demeanor, and it's cheering up everyone around him quite a large bit. Whatever you're doing, you're doing a fine job of it.

See you at Hogsmeade tomorrow!

Blaise Zabini"

Hermione crumpled up the paper and shoved it in her book-bag.

"Merlin, Mione, that guy was a bloody perv," Harry said, pushing away his toast. "Why did you even ever go out with him?"

Hermione shrugged. "It was only for a day. I broke it off before anything actually happened."

They all eased into a small conversation, when the topic of Hogsmeade came up.

"Actually," Hermione said, "I was planning on meeting some friends of mine tomorrow."

Harry quirked an eyebrow at her. "Who?"

"As I said, Harry," Hermione glared. "I have friends."

"Who?" Harry repeated.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Some girls from Ravenclaw. You wouldn't know them."

Harry appraised her skeptically. "Right."

"Speaking of which," Hermione began, watching Blaise discreetly signal for her to follow him, "I have to go meet them now. I'll see you guys later."

Hermione got up and followed Blaise. He was apparently headed for the grounds. Behind her, she was being followed by Pansy and Nott.

"So, Granger, what do you say?"

"About what, Zabini?"

They were in a small corner of the grounds, hidden by a group of trees.

Blaise grinned at her. "Setting you up with Draco."

She glared at him. "The deal was I become friends with him, not that I date him. I'm not sure I want to..."

"Well, how about this, then," Pansy spoke up. "We pretend you and I have become close friends and you're going to spend the day with us."

Hermione laughed shortly. "Like _anyone_ would believe that. I've heard rumours that you and I are planning to fight to the death this weekend."

Pansy's eyebrows rose. "Who on earth said _that?"_

Hermione shrugged. "Not sure, I heard it from a friend. Anyways, guys, this isn't going to work. Perhaps we should just stick to the original plan of me befriending Malfoy on my own..."

"It wasn't working," Nott broke in.

Hermione glared. "It's only been three weeks! You can't make friends with your enemy in just three weeks. I'm trying as hard as I can, but if I push him, he'll only get angry and push me away."

"Please, Granger?" Pansy said, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "What say you we put all differences aside and become the best of mates?"

Hermione sighed. "Fine. I guess I can deal with that for a day."

Pansy grinned. "Excellent. See you tomorrow, friend."

Hermione rolled her eye. "Don't force yourself."

She left for her room, then, to go pick up some homework to do outside with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and, to her chagrin, Lavender Brown.


	6. Chapter 6

:O

I recently got a review telling me that Draco Malfoy's falling in love with a muggle thing was sort of like the story Draco Malfoy's 101 Ways to Get a Girl by panneler-san. I've read that, which makes this worse.

One of my worst fears is writing a story and accidentally copying something without even thinking about it. I didn't mean for it to happen! This was just what came to my mind when I started the story so I could cheer myself up!

Anyways, in my disclaimer, I always say that whatever you recognise I do not own. Therefore, I do not own the idea, I suppose.

Trust me, though, my story is going to be nothing like the fantastic story by panneler-san. At least, I don't think so. It's not over. I'm enjoying it; I recommend it. ^^

Hopefully, this doesn't happen again and I manage to stray away from accidentally clashing with their plot. If I accidentally copy your story, give me a review and I'll post about your story here. Don't trick me, though, cuz I do my research! I will read your story!

So, I'm sorry for making our stories alike...I'll try not to do THAT again. But um...this shouldn't be like her story. The plot of this is a bit different. Well, a lot different.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

...

Draco watched the group of friend from afar. Well, the group of friends and Weasley's slut, Lavender Brown. He watched how Lavender jumped at Ron every other minute, how Granger looked away, an angry, hurt sort of glint in her eyes, how Harry tried to make them stop, how Ginny noticed Hermione's sad look and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, and how it repeated in one continuous gut-wrenching circle.

Not that he felt anything about seeing Granger upset. He'd been the one to cause that look in her eyes, though he generally caused more anger than anything. But that didn't mean it was right, and he knew it.

He watched as Granger said something, then gathered her things and stood. As Potter took a hold of her wrist and said something with a concerned look on his face. As she shook her head and smiled a smile so fake that even Draco, someone who hardly knew her, could tell that it was fake.

He backed away into the shadows just in time to avoid having any unnecessary physical or eye contact with the Gryffindor as she rushed from the grounds-to where, he had no idea.

Suddenly, as Draco looked back at the group perched by the lake, he felt a horribly strong urge to knock Weasley unconscious in the most painful and humiliating way he possibly could. He was horrified by the pull in his stomach, the tingling in his fist. Was he...was he trying to defend Hermione?

Before things got any weirder, Draco turned around, clenching his fists, and entered the castle. He was sure he had homework to do, anyways. And he had to finish his letter to Sirius Black and send it back to him by six tonight, or he might not get to join the Order.

He didn't know what had possessed him to join the Order. Maybe it was the thought of protection from his father. Maybe it was to spite his father. Maybe it was to protect muggles like his Kourtney, muggles who could be spared, muggles who were loved.

He sighed as he whispered the password and entered the common room. Well, whatever it was, he knew it must have been a good reason. Because lately, all he could do was good things.

Shaking his head, he walked towards the letter he had left on the table, daring Granger to find out what he'd do to her if she decided to read this one.

He sat down and dipped his quill into his ink, poising his hand to continue the sentence where he'd left off, only to find himself distracted by an odd, sort of choking sound coming from Hermione's room.

At first, he decided he didn't care. She was fine, he'd just seen her walking and talking moments before.

But then he thought, what if she's not okay? What if she was in there dying or something and he had heard, but didn't do anything and she died? How would he take the guilt of having two deaths on his head?

So he set down his quill and stepped towards Granger's room as quietly as he could. He placed his hand on the doorknob, realising briefly that she'd probably locked it before finding that it wasn't, and he was allowed easy access into her bedroom.

He entered her room slowly, cautiously, and at first, he had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She was crouched in a little ball, facing the wall opposite the door, leaning against the other side of the bed. She was in her pyjamas, though it was only about noon, and she seemed to be rocking back and forth.

Then she scratchily pulled air in through her throat, and Draco recognised the sound.

She was _crying_. And very hard, he could see.

She was alive, there was no reason for him to be there. Right?

He tried to back out without being noticed, but she heard. She jumped to her feet and spun around, gasping in a huge gulp of air.

"Oh." Her voice cracked. She wiped her eye with the palm of her hand. "Malfoy."

"I was just leaving..." Draco said awkwardly, but his legs refused to move.

_Her eyes are really pretty._

That sent enough of a shock through his body for him to mutter a quick "Sorry," and to leave the room as fast as his legs could carry him. He grabbed the letter and his quill and quickly locked himself in his bedroom, immersing himself in his letter and not in ridiculous thoughts about the eyes of his enemy.

...

The next morning, Hermione woke up extra early to make sure she got the bathroom first, she hissed when she felt how dry her eyes were and she splashed cold water on her face.

She stared at her face in the mirror and raised her chin several notches, looking down her nose at herself. She was much better than this. She didn't need Ron, and he obviously didn't need her. And did she even love him at all? Who was to say it wasn't all of the danger that had forced them together, that made her feel false love for Ron? It could have been Harry her frightened mind had chosen, but it chose Ron.

She didn't really love him at all, did she?

"Granger?" There was a loud knock on the bathroom door. "You've been in there for two hours and I haven't even heard the shower start. Turn off the sink and get out of there!"

Hermione opened the door and Draco's jaw dropped. "Merlin, Granger, you look bloody awful."

She glared. "Thanks for that, Malfoy."

"I'm sorry," he said. "But have you been crying?"

Her glare sharpened. "Mind your own business and stay out of mine, you prat. You can have the bathroom."

He didn't say anything as she walked towards her bedroom and slammed the door shut angrily.

Draco shrugged and entered the bathroom to prepare himself for Hogsmeade.


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione left for Hogsmeade with Harry and Ginny. Lavender and Ron having decided to stay behind and take advantage of the large, basically empty castle while everyone else was away.

Harry noticed Hermione's eyes linger on Ron a moment after he walked away, and he placed a comforting hand on her arm. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Hermione said. "I've decided that Ron is nothing to me."

Harry rose his eyebrows, but nodded and patted her arm. "It's probably for the best."

Hermione didn't say anything, but she followed Harry and Ginny to Hogsmeade, walking just a small bit behind to give them a little bit of privacy. Hermione was glad that with her out with her "Ravenclaw friends," they would get the chance at some privacy considering Ron gave them none, apparently not needing any of his own with Lavender.

When they got to Hogsmeade they went their separate ways, Harry and Ginny going to the Three Broomsticks and Hermione, though hidden from her friends, to the Hogs Head.

"Hermione!"

Hermione was confused as to who was calling her name, considering the voice holding the word didn't usually call her that. She spotted Pansy, Blaise, and Nott in the back of the room with a very angry looking Malfoy. Taking a steadying breath, Hermione headed towards them with a big smile on her face. "Hello Pansy! Blaise...Theodore."

He laughed. "Hermione, you joker," he said, playfully punching her arm. "I told you to call me Theo, remember?"

"Oh, right," Hermione said, pretending to laugh, realising this was the most awkward thing she had ever done. "I'm sorry, _Theo, _I must have forgot!"

They all laughed nervously, except for Malfoy, who glared at them. "What is _she_ doing here?"

"Draco, I expect you to be kind to her," Pansy said with a fake smile as she threw an arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Hermione and I are friends now!"

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Draco asked, glowering still. "The last time I checked, you thought she was an anorexic mudblood trollop."

Pansy choked and Hermione felt suddenly very foolish for coming. "I never said that!" Pansy exclaimed.

"Right, I'm pretty sure your language was a bit stronger," Draco replied.

Pansy glared. "Well, if you must know, Hermione was assigned to tutor me, and that's how we became friends."

"Right, in what class?" Draco challenged.

"Er...in Charms."

"No good, you've got a steady O in charms."

Pansy sighed. "Well, I haven't been understanding it this past week, okay?"

"Whatever you say."

Hermione laughed nervously, having absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do. It didn't help that Draco pointedly ignored her the entire time they were at the Hogs Head. Hermione found, though, that she really did enjoy the company of Pansy, Blaise and Theo. They were very funny, and their playful banter reminded her of how it used to be with her Harry and Ron before Lavender ruined everything.

"Everything alright, Mione?"

Hermione shook her head and looked at Pansy. Everyone was watching her closely now. "Of course," Hermione replied. "Why would it not be?"

Pansy shrugged, taking a sip of her firewhiskey thoughtfully. "You just looked upset or something for a moment. You sure you're okay?"

"No, I'm fine," Hermione assured. "I think I just had something in my eye."

"The bathroom's down the hall if you need to see," Pansy offered.

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm-Actually, I think I'm going to use the bathroom."

"I'll come with you," Pansy said, standing quickly.

"Pansy, this is _not_ working," Hermione said nervously, pacing while Pansy entered one of the stalls.

"You're hardly even trying, Hermione, you've barely said a thing to him," Pansy replied from behind the door.

"I can't just talk to him, he'd notice it was unnatural," Hermione said. "I've never started up a conversation with him in my entire life."

"Well, I've decided to help you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

"No, this is a really good plan!" The toilet flushed and Pansy left the stall and began washing her hands. "I'll tell Blaise and Theo that I need to show them something, something that Draco's already seen, and it'll leave you and him alone together!"

"But what if he tries to go with you?"

Pansy shook her head. "I won't let him come with."

"How?"

"Hermione," Pansy said, laughing and rolling her eyes. "Trust me. I've known Draco my _entire_ life. I know what I'm doing."

Hermione sighed. "Okay, you win. But what do we talk about once you leave?"

Pansy shrugged. "Not sure. Guess that you'll just have to figure that out when the time comes, eh?"

Hermione sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just go."

Pansy grinned and led Hermione out of the restroom, back to the waiting boys.

"Sorry to keep you boys waiting," Pansy said, taking her seat and downing the contents of her dirty glass. Hermione sat beside her and waited for her to say something. Hermione soon found that Pansy was an excellent actress. "Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed. "Blaise, Theo! I just remembered something I showed Draco the last time we were here, but not you because you were in detention for shaving Mrs. Norris."

Hermione snorted softly into her glass of water.

"He was shedding all over the dungeons," Theo exclaimed. "What were we supposed to do?"

"Anyways, that's besides the point," Pansy said, waving them off. "The point is there's something I wanted to show you! Hermione reminded me of it while we were in the bathroom."

"What is it?" Theo asked excitedly.

"A surprise," replied Pansy, rolling her eyes.

"Oh..." Theo said, obviously not catching on. "Well, let's go!"

"Hermione, Draco," Pansy said, standing, "you two stay here. We won't be long."

Hermione nodded and took a sip of her sparkling water, recalling how the others had laughed upon her ordering it. Well, she didn't need to get drunk when she had patrolls that night.

"They're doing it again," Draco mumbled, obviously to himself, though Hermione couldn't be so sure.

"Doing what?" Hermione asked.

"Trying to make me happy in the most ridiculous ways possible," Draco replied, glancing at her. Though, Hermione noticed, he refused to look her in the eyes.

_That's too bad,_ she thought. _His eyes are rather pretty._

She choked on her water at this sudden thought, alarmed that it had even gone through her head.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You're surprised?"

"No," Hermione replied, shaking her head. "Just had a sort of an...odd thought, that's all."

He remained skeptical, but didn't answer. After a few moments, Hermione broke the silence. "They really do care about you, you know."

"Oh, I know," Draco replied, looking away from the window. "That's what worries me. They never leave me alone. I think they're worried I'll try to kill myself or something."

"Would you?" Hermione asked, absently picking up her glass.

"What?" He snapped.

She shrugged. "If they left you alone for too long. Would you think about killing yourself?"

Draco stared at her a moment before looking away, making a strangled sort of sound. "I don't know. I think I'm too much of a coward to actually do it, but I've thought of it before." He shook his head. "Why am I even telling you this?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Hermione replied. "I mean, usually you would have just told me to mind my own business."

Draco didn't answer. He was too conflicted to do so. What was wrong with him? Why did he keep having odd thoughts about Granger? She was Granger for crying out loud! His enemy! Or, at least, the best friend of his true enemy. As she said, he should be telling her to mind his own business, not telling her something as personal as thoughts of killing oneself. What was next, tell her his entire tragic childhood? How he grew up watching his father beat his mum, how he resorted to beating him, the even worse threats that Hermione hadn't seen written down? His true reasons for joining the Order? About Kourtney?

He shook his head.

"Just so you know," Hermione said, "I didn't take the money."

"What?" Draco snapped.

Hermione shrugged. "They offered me money to try and make you feel better. I didn't take it."

"Then why are you even here?" Draco asked, curious both as to why she didn't take the money and why she was so persistent.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. Something told me that you needed a friend."

Draco glared. He knew she pitied him. It was because of the letter she read. "I don't need your sympathy."

Before she could send him either a retort or an apology, Draco stood and stormed out of the Hogs Head.

Hermione sighed. "Well," she said to herself. "I definitely blew that."

"What the hell, Hermione?" Pansy exploded when she returned with Blaise and Theo. "What happened? Where'd he go?"

Hermione shrugged. "Not sure. Listen, thanks for the afternoon, but I think I'm going to head back, alright?"

"What?" she demanded. "No! What happened?"

"I don't think that it was part of the deal for me to tell you how I intended on befriending this pleasant blonde Slytherin currently stalking off to Hogwarts," Hermione said. "I'll see you all later."

Hermione left Pansy spluttering behind her as she set off to the castle, where a book and a bath were calling her name.


	8. Chapter 8

Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts resident "sex god," was sitting in the Heads common room, confused, angry, and wallowing in self-pity.

Confusion: What the _hell_ was with all of these weird thoughts about Granger? _Why_ was he being so nice to her, talking to her about things not even close friends are comfortable with? And why wasn't she hitting him or yelling at him or...whatever else she'd done to him over the years? Hexing off his hair or something? He shook his head.

Angry: Why wasn't _he _doing these things? He was angry at being confused. And why couldn't he direct any of his bloody anger at Granger?

Self-pity: Hermione pitied him, why couldn't he pity himself? He hated that she did, but he was already angry enough at himself and how his life was going that he didn't care enough to feel shame at pitying himself.

Glaring at the fire he was sitting in front of, he began to tear his father's most recent letter into tiny pieces and throw each one into the fire.

"Draco." The ink word written in shimmering green ink burst into flames. "I am very upset." The fire made a _fwoosh_ sound at the larger piece of parchment. "With your lack of response to any of my or your mothers letters." He tore the particularily long sentence in two and threw each one in seperately. "I am afraid that this has to end." _Fwoosh... _"If you do not rejoin our cause, you will be disowned. I will no longer pay your Hogwarts tuition, and you will be disowned."

Draco shook his head and threw the rest of the letter in with the first few bits. It went up in flames, but the green ink was burned into his mind, scrolling before his eyes. He blinked several times, trying to get it out of his head.

He sighed. What was he going to do? If he didn't finish Hogwarts, he couldn't be an Auror, he couldn't properly join the Order! He shook his head. Maybe he could drop out, get a job, and make up the tuition. Then he could just come back to Hogwarts and finish in his twenties!

He sighed again. That wasn't going to work at all. He needed to finish Hogwarts and join the Order as soon as he possibly could. Not only would no one take on an ex-Death Eater, it could be dangerous for him to be on his own with so many out to get him, on both sides.

He jumped at the sound of an owl banging on the window and tripped to get it open. He took the letter from the owl, who immediately darted off.

"Dear Mr. Malfoy,

After much deliberation, we have decided that you have proven yourself worthy to join the Order of the Phoenix as a helper during meetings while you train to become an Auror. During this time we will make sure you can show yourself as thoroughly changed. In the meantime, do well in school, make fun of Snape, and don't be too hard on Miss Granger. She does think highly of you, even if it's deep inside of her and she doesn't want to show it.

Yours Truly,

Sirius Black

Ps, if you have any questions, I ask you owl back immediately."

Draco blinked. That man was ridiculous. The start of the letter was so official, and then it ended on an almost personal level. Draco shrugged and got to writing back.

He was halfway through explaining the dilemma with his father and that he was reconsidering because of this, when Hermione wandered in.

"Oh, hello, Malfoy," Hermione said, scanning the common room for her text book and finding she'd have to spend more time with Draco by walking all the way to the other side of the room to retrieve it. "Have a nice Hogsmeade trip?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "You were there, Granger."

"I guess I was," she said, walking in front of him to fetch her Transfiguration book. "And I suppose I ruined it for you, huh?"

He shocked the both of them. "Not really."

Hermione paused in reaching for the rather large text. "Really?"

"Er-I mean-"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't stress yourself, Malfoy. And I didn't mean to make you angry. I have absolutely no sympathy for you, whatsoever. I believe that once you reach a certain age and are able to think for yourself, you have the power to break away from your parents if you feel what they're doing is wrong. So I think it's completely your fault, what you have to deal with."

"Yeesh, Granger," Draco grimaced. "You really know how to make a bloke feel better."

"Sorry," she said, blushing. "I get kind of philosophical sometimes. Just ignore me."

"Thanks for the permission," Draco replied, standing to take his letter elsewhere. "But I don't need it. I'd much rather ignore you when you're angry and want to yell at me."

She rolled her eyes again and marched towards the bathroom. "Whatever, Draco, and again, I didn't mean to make you angry then, and I didn't mean it if I hurt your feelings now. I'll just leave you alone."

"Whatever, Granger," Draco replied, shutting the door to his bedroom as she shut the door to the bathroom.

Draco dropped the letter and his quill and ink onto his desk and dropped onto his bed, horrified at himself.

_Not really? How could I have said that? She_ did _ruin the trip for me! Salazar Slytherin, what has gotten into me? Was I trying to make her _feel better?

He shook his head. This was the weirdest thing ever. It wasn't even an "I fancy you" feeling. What was it? Not a crush, no...definitely not love. But he was beginning to...tolerate her. What did you call that? "I don't want to hex you but I don't want to kiss you, either." There we go. That was it. The IDWTHYBIDWTKYE feeling.

After thinking up that acronym, his head hurt, and Draco sighed, setting aside his incomplete letter, favouring dinner with Blaise, Pansy, and Theo over thinking or trying to figure out his future and feelings. He shook his head and got off of his bed, wandering out of the room.

The sound of running water was coming from the bathroom, and a pretty smell washed over the common room. Lavender and something else he couldn't name, something strangely...Granger.

Shrugging, he left, starving and needed to talk to Blaise ASAP.

...

Hermione sighed and slipped deep beneath the water, holding her breath tightly and keeping her eyes squeezed shut to keep out soapy bath water. She popped her head up and took in a huge breath of the sweet-smelling air, pushing her hair back from her head and reaching for a towel to dry her hands before she picked up her Transfiguration text book and began reading all about the next few lessons, hoping she could be ahead so her homework would be a cinch and she could keep ahead the entire year and be prepared for her N.E.W.T.S so she could become a healer.

She'd always wanted to be a healer, ever since first year and she'd learned about doctors in the Wizarding world. When Ron got hurt during their life-size game of Wizards chess, she knew it wouldn't be the last time, and she knew that somebody needed to be there for him and Harry in the future. And then when the war broke out, the only way she could think of to help was through being a healer. Even if she was traveling with Harry, it was really Harry's work. All she was doing was being logical and giving him the facts he needed to move ahead. Using anything she'd learned about being a healer, she'd kept them all healthy enough to get through the worst part of the war.

And now, with the war against the Death Eaters still raging on, she needed to become a healer for the Order. Too many times she received owls from Sirius and Remus and Tonks and Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George and all the others about the newly injured, and how she just wanted to become a healer and help all of her friends. She wanted to be a part of the Order, and this was it. She could be the Order's traveling healer.

She set her book on the floor beside the tub and began to massage shampoo into her hair. Being a healer was really the only thing she'd ever been this passionate about. It made her chest swell everytime she thought about the great things she could do as a healer.

Thoughts of being a healer for the Order, though, brought up her other thoughts of Draco. She'd owled Fred and George to tell them about her worries about him, about how he was being different and everything, but not entirely different towards her, and she just wanted to know what was planned for him.

They had owled her back quickly, as they always did for their favourite friend of their younger siblings, practicly their sister, and told her that they thought Sirius was on something illegal for allowing another Slytherin into the Order. With Snape still there, they believed the two would start scheming. But they also told her about all of the owls he'd sent expressing his interest in joining, and they couldn't help but feel he had a real, passionate reason for wanting to join.

Naturally, they wanted to know, and told her to keep an eye out for anything "juicy."

And so she'd owled them back quickly, as she always did for her ginger "brothers," and told them she'd see what she could do.

So far, it wasn't working out so well. But if she could get Draco to talk to her like he had at the Hogs Head that afternoon, then this would be no problem.

She didn't see any reason not to trust Draco besides the years of hating him and having specific reasons why she had: the vile names he'd called her, the awful way he'd treated her and her friends, and the fact that he had indeed been a Death Eater.

But she knew for sure he'd changed sides-or, at least, that he had ended up somewhere in the middle. The only Slytherins that would speak to him were Blaise, Pansy, Theo, and that Harvey Thorne boy. Everyone else seemed to have disowned him or something. She'd once overheard McGonagall telling Snape that the only reason besides his good grades that he'd gotten the position of Head Boy was that so the other Slytherins wouldn't kill him in his sleep if he were forcd to stay in the Slytherin dormitories with the others.

Hermione shook her head as she rinsed her hair. Really, she didn't know what to think. Only time would tell if he was trustworthy or not.

And though Hermione didn't know it, only time would reveal all that Draco had to offer, and far more than she had known he had.

...

Hmmmmm...this chapter seems a bit scattered to me. They're just confused little pigeons, aren't they? I don't know, it's hard to explain, but when I've got a character in my mind, they hold the reigns, not me. I'm just the one that tells the story, not makes it up. The characters do that all on their own. ^^

So, your thoughts? ^^


	9. Chapter 9

Yes, I have to say, I looked over the previous chapter, and I really disliked it, so I got to it and wrote a better chapter for chapter 9. But, you know... it was one of those plot thingy's...had to put it in there...

...

"Hey, Draco!"

Draco groaned when Pansy shouted for him to sit by them. It was what he'd wanted, to eat supper with his friends, but then it occured to him why he hadn't eaten _lunch_ with them. Because he'd angrily stormed out of Hogsmeade with absolutely no explanation, and he knew they would be far from happy with them.

But he put on a brave face and approached them cautiously, trying not to show it. "Pansy," he said civily. "Blaise, Theo, Goyle."

"You sure are being polite," said Blaise, eyeing him suspiciously. "Something happen with Granger?"

"Why would something happening with Granger make me act polite?" Draco asked, dropping into a seat on the end, his usual seat, beside Blaise and in front of Pansy, across from Theo, who was next to Goyle, and that was it. No one else wanted to sit by the "traitors," or at least, anyone who associated with Draco Malfoy, the boy who changed sides.

Blaise shrugged. "Dunno, why don't you tell me?"

Draco rolled his eyes and helped himself to his supper. "Nothing happened with Granger."

"Then why on Earth did you leave?" Pansy said exasperatedly. "Things seemed to be going fine!"

"Well, your spying skills must be terrible," Draco replied, eyeing a suspicious looking dish that was very unlike normal Hogwarts food. "Things were not going fine, not in the least. We had a conversation about suicide and then I got mad because she pitied me."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "That is _horrible_ small talk. And who _cares_ if she pities you. You pity yourself!"

"I do not!" Draco exclaimed defensively. "I am perfectly fine with where my life is going, thank you very much. Now, leave me be, so I can eat and leave you freaks."

Theo chuckled. "Someone's being a little defensive."

Draco glared at him and bit viciously into his food. "Draco, I think we need to talk after supper."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine, meet me in the owlry at eight, before my patrols. I have to send an owl, anyways."

Blaise nodded in agreement, and not much else was said, except for Draco's sad excuses in brushing off Pansy's unending pestering about why he wouldn't just be nice to Granger, her new "best friend."

...

Hermione wandered into the Great Hall a little later with wet hair clipped to the back of her head, starving and wanting to know how Ginny and Harry's date went. She didn't even have to ask-Ginny was leaning against Harry's chest, smiling as she fed him his dinner. Hermione rolled her eyes and sat down on the other side of Harry, across from Ron, who, for some strange reason, was not sucking the face off of his girlfriend.

"Where's Lavender?" Hermione asked, hardly able to keep the bitterness from her voice.

Ron shook his head. "Dunno. She won't come down from her room. Haven't seen her all day."

Though Hermione strongly felt that he and Lavender were only dating because of lust and because they were the only ones each other could find, she did notice that Ron looked genuinely upset at not having seen his girlfriend.

"Hermione," Ron shook his head. This must have been serious-he wasn't even eating. "She said she was coming right back down. What if something happened to her?"

"Ron, I told you," Ginny sighed, rolling her head across Harry's chest to look at her brother. "I was just up there. She's perfectly fine."

"What has she been doing up there?" Ron asked desperately.

"Crying." Ginny froze. "Darn it, I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"She was _crying?"_ Ron exclaimed. "Why?"

"I've got absolutely no idea, Ron; I wasn't that interested, to tell you the truth," Ginny replied, continuing to feed Harry.

"Mione?"

Hermione knew where this was going.

"Yes, Ronald?" She asked as she began to eat.

"Will you please go up and see what's wrong with her?" Ron asked, making puppy-dog eyes. "Please?"

Hermione sighed, unable to resist those eyes. "Fine. I'll go see what's going on as soon as I finish eating. I don't have patrols tonight."

"Thank you, Mione!" He breathed a sigh of relief.

Hermione shook her head. Godric, she hated that she used to love him. Now she couldn't say no, even when it meant helping him with another girl. She was so pathetic it embarressed her.

Once she had finished, she wrapped up a few things for Lavender, who, if Ron was right, hadn't eaten since breakfast. She poked her head inside her old room and saw that Lavender was the only person in there, everyone else was still at supper.

Lavender was sitting in the window sill, staring out at the sunset, tears dripping off of her chin.

"Er...Lavender?"

Lavender jumped and made a strange screaming sound. "Oh," she said, spotting Hermione. She wiped at her nose. "It's you."

"Yeah, it's me..." Hermione said awkwardly. "Are you...are you hungry?"

She shrugged. "A little."

"I brought you something."

She turned to Hermione, who handed her the napkin. Lavender ate like a starving lion. "Thanks," she replied.

"Don't mention it..."

Hermione sat down on her old bed, feeling more awkward than ever. She and Lavender had never not got along...but they were never best friends, either, and they had nearly nothing in common, besides being in Gryffindor and loving the same boy.

"So, Ron's really upset that he hasn't gotten to see you all day," Hermione began.

Lavender turned to look at Hermione over her shoulder. "Really?"

"Of course!" Hermione replied. She leaned forward. "He wasn't even eating. We both know that means something serious is going on."

She gave Hermione a half-smile. "He does like to eat, doesn't he?"

"You haven't seen the worst of it," Hermione replied. "You should see how he eats back at home. His brothers and Ginny and Harry and I can hardly get enough. Mrs. Weasley is just constantly cooking until he's had enough."

Lavender laughed softly. "Really?"

Hermione nodded, smiling as well. "Yeah. He's loved to eat ever since I met him."

Lavender nodded and looked out the window. She didn't look at Hermione as she said, "He worries about you a lot, you know."

"Me?" Hermione whispered, confused.

Lavender nodded, her blonde spirals bouncing a little. "Yeah. He worries he hurt your friendship when he chose me over you."

Hermione sighed. "He didn't hurt our friendship. Maybe my feelings a little, but I'm over it. He's just my friend again."

"Really?"

"Would someone more than a friend go and make sure his girlfriend was okay?"

Lavender laughed softly. "I guess not."

"So...are you okay?" Hermione said, starting over. "Ron's really worried. He thinks it's his fault you're up here."

Lavender shrugged. "It is his fault."

Hermione rose her eyebrows. "What did he do?"

She shook her head. "You'll think it's silly."

"Of course I won't," Hermione said. "I've had boy problems before. I understand how this goes."

"Hermione, he never says my name."

Hermione rose her eyebrows. "What?"

"Just like I said!" Lavender exclaimed. "I can't remember the last time he called me 'Lavender.' It's always 'baby' or 'sexy' or 'love.' I mean, I love pet names and all, but I don't know if it's because he doesn't want it to be me he's dating, like he wants to be saying someone else's name...or...I don't know..."

"Well, I think I understand where you're coming from," Hermione said. "It's okay. I think Ron really loves you. You don't need to be so paranoid."

"Really?"

"Lavender, I'm one of his best friends," Hermione replied, standing and glad that it was such a ridiculous little thing that could be solved easily. "I've known him since I was eleven. I can tell when he's in love."

Lavender grinned happily and sighed. "My Won-Won." She hopped down from the window ledge. "Thanks, Hermione! I have to go find Ron."

Hermione smiled. "Don't mention it."

As soon as Lavender was gone, Hermione rolled her eyes in the direction of the paranoid girl. How ridiculous. Too many pet names...

Hermione left for the Library, planning on staying up later than usual and in the mood for fiction rather than textbooks. And afterwards, she would send a reply to Fred and George, saying that not much had changed; even though, she soon found, she might have to change her letter, in light of recent events.

...

"So, Drake," Blaise said, leaning against the wall in one of the few places not covered in owl droppings. "You've got some explaining to do."

Draco rolled his eyes as he tried to get his stubborn owl, Jefferey, down from the ceiling so he could attach his letter and leave for his patrols. "I already _told _you. Granger and I had a conversation about suicide before I accused her of pitying me and I left before she could answer."

"Smooth."

"It's not like I'm trying to impress her or woo her or something," Draco replied, jumping in an attempt to catch Jeff, who was teasing him now. "I'm just trying to survive my final year of Hogwarts, and she just happens to be a person I have to deal with."

"Hermione doesn't seem like the pitying type," Blaise said. "Maybe she'd feel bad for animals or something, but for people?"

Draco shook his head. "She gave me some crap about how it was my fault, what I had to deal with, because I didn't break away from my parents sooner."

"Harsh."

"Exactly," Draco replied, sighing as Jeff flew even farther out of his grasp.

"So, do you like her?"

"Who?"

"Granger, of course!"

Draco froze. "In what way, exactly?"

"That all depends on which way you like her."

"What if I don't like her at all?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "You and I both know that that is not true."

"I'm indifferent, okay?" Draco groaned, finally catching Jeff. He began tying his letter to Sirius Black to his leg. "I just...sort of tolerate her living with me and having to plan things with her."

Hermione had reached the owlry by now, letter in hand, when she heard voices. Recognizable voices.

"You're indifferent," faceless Blaise stated.

"Right," faceless Draco replied quickly.

"I think that's a lie."

"Well, prove it!" Draco exclaimed.

"Alright," Blaise replied. "I'll bet you ten galleons that you guys will be friends before Christmas."

Draco snorted. "You're on."

Hermione could almost see Blaise smirking. "Good."

Hermione decided that then was her best time to leave, so she wouldn't have to run into either Slytherin boy and have to dodge any unnecessary questions.

She was halfway to her room when she stopped suddenly in her tracks.

"Well, look what who we've got here."

She felt a chill go down her spine as she tried to reach for her wand, but something stopped her, and she was unable to move, or even scream for help if she needed to.

"Hermione Granger, Head Girl. I think you have some explaining to do."

...

Little bit longer of a chapter. Hope it was at least a little better than the previous chapter. What do you think? I'm not sure yet...seems a little boring. I hate trying to put the plot in!


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione's heart nearly stopped in her chest before she realised who was behind her. She turned around, hands on her hips. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your common room before curfew?"

The Slytherin jock behind her smirked. "Do you know who I am?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're Clark Foxworthy, sixth year Slytherin, Second Beater on the Slytherin Quidditch team. I know this because you announce it every time you enter a room. Now, I won't say it again. Get to your common room. Before I have to take points."

He completely ignored every word she said.

"Do you remember what you did to me last weekend?"

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "I caught you snogging in the corridor and gave you detention."

"And I missed Quidditch tryouts!" He exclaimed.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before," Hermione replied with a shrug. "It was your fifth offence."

Clark glared at her, before he sneered. "Well. I just thought I'd teach you a lesson. See, I don't just get busted without it being on someone's head."

Hermione sighed. "Please, Foxworthy, I'm very tired. Can I please just let you off with a warning so I can go to bed?"

"Oh, no. I don't think so." He was slowly beginning to advance on her, and Hermione's eyes widened in fear that he might actually try something. She held out her wand in front of her, but he just grabbed it and whipped it aside before she could even blink.

She looked from her wand to his cold eyes and gasped as she realised she was in some serious trouble. "Now, Foxworthy," she said, trying to reason. "You don't want to do this."

She had to keep herself from screaming as his hand came down sharp on her face.

She turned and made to run, but he grabbed her wrist and jerked her backwards, slamming her into the wall and pushing himself against her. His lips crashed against hers angrily and she desperately tried to push him away, screaming into his mouth. He kneed her in the stomach and as she crumpled, he lifted her from the floor and pushed her hard against the wall.

She tried to shake him off but he wouldn't budge.

Suddenly, he was gone. Hermione fell to the floor with a crash and looked around, curling up and trying to avoid being hurt again.

It was Draco and Blaise, running towards her with their wands held out, ready to strike again if necessary. "Get off of her, Foxworthy!" Draco yelled as Blaise came to Hermione's rescue, lifting her up off of the floor. "You okay?" He asked.

She stared up Blaise dazedly. "Hmmm?"

Blaise swore. "Draco, hurry it up! I think she needs the hospital wing."

Draco was in the middle of a horrible duel with Clark Foxworthy, and spells, hexes, and curses were flying everywhere. Draco managed to dodge each one, but Foxworthy, being a beater and second at that, hadn't very good reflexes. He was only good at throwing hexes, which didn't help him when he suddenly found his arms stuck to his sides.

Draco glared harshly at him as he fell to the ground. He put several spells on him before pushing him to the side of the corridor. "I'll send for someone to take you to the headmaster." Draco waved his wand and a note explaining what had happened appeared in his lap. Draco picked up Hermione's wand and glared until they had turned a corridor and were rushing Hermione to the Hospital Wing.

"Goodness, what happened here?" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed as the two boys came rushing into the room.

"Not sure," Draco said, shaking his head as Blaise set her on a bed. "Found her being, er, forced upon by Clark Foxworthy."

Madam Pomfrey grimaced. "That's too bad. Does anything hurt, dear? Are you alright?"

Hermione felt her lower lip quivering. She wanted Draco and Blaise to leave before she started crying. She pointed to her wrist, and then clutched her stomach.

"You're wrist and your stomach?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

Hermione nodded, wincing again. "And my head, too," she whispered.

"Poor dear," Madam Pomfrey replied, rushing to her potions stock to get a few things. Before she left, she said, "Blaise, dear, please go and see to it Foxworthy finds himself in Dumbledore's office." Blaise nodded and left after patting Draco's shoulder and offering a smile to Hermione. "Draco, make sure Hermione doesn't fall asleep."

Hermione had already curled up on the bed and her eyes were beginning to shut.

"Er, how long will you be in there?" He called.

"Only a few minutes!" She replied.

Draco sighed and dropped to his knees beside Granger.

"Granger, you've got to keep your eyes open."

She made a sort of moaning sound and went back to breathing evenly.

"Come on, Granger, you've got to stay up."

"Please, let me just rest," she mumbled.

Draco sighed and rested his chin on his hands, laid in front of her on the bed. "I think you should keep your eyes open."

Hermione shook her head stubbornly. "No."

"I really think you should."

She shook her head more viciously, wincing at a sharp pain in the back of her head. "No."

Draco sighed again and gave in. His mind began to wander as he thought about earlier that day, when they'd been in the Hogs Head. He'd had so many emotions take him over that weekend that his mind was hardly even functioning properly anymore.

_Something told me you needed a friend._

He remembered hearing her say those words and immediately thinking that she thought he was just a scared little boy who needed help. It had made him angry, but now that he thought about it, maybe he did need a friend. He had Blaise and Pansy and Theo. Blaise was the closest friend he had, and of course he told him everything, but having a close friend who was a girl might have been different. She would listen and give her opinion and even sympathy, but not the kind that would make anyone angry for making them feel helpless.

That was when he finally gave up. He finally decided that he should give Granger a chance. For all he went on about changing sides and turning over a new leaf and being a new, better person, he sure wasn't acting like it since Kourtney's death. And though it'd be a while before he could tell her anything so personal, just talking about simple things would be enough for him.

It was then that he decided he owed Blaise ten galleons. He snorted softly. Before Christmas...it had taken less than an hour. That had to be a new record, he thought with a yawn, before slowly drifting off right there beside his new, though she didn't know it yet, friend.


	11. Chapter 11

Blaise returned to the room a few minutes later to see Madam Pomfrey leaning over Hermione, Draco deeply asleep beside her.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, noticing how flustered the medi-witch appeared.

"Well, it seems the potion might take a little bit longer to brew, and it appears Hermione might have a bit of a concussion," she replied, not looking up. "Would you mind keeping an eye on her while I go and get Professor Snape? And try to stay awake, unlike Mr. Malfoy here. Please, don't let Miss Granger drift off again."

Blaise nodded. "Sure, as long as I don't get in any trouble for staying up past curfew."

"Of course not!" she replied as she rushed out the door, barely waiting for him to confirm that he'd stay.

Blaise shrugged and wandered all the way into the room. He levitated Draco to a seperate bed and sat down next to Hermione.

"Hello," she whispered.

Blaise grinned. "Hey. Are you okay?"

Hermione seemed to need to think about it for a while. "My head hurts. Why are there bright lights all over?" She squeezed her eyes shut. "They hurt."

Blaise waved his wand and the lights dimmed. "That better?"

She nodded and rolled onto her back. "What happened?"

"You were attacked," Blaise replied, watching her curiously.

"Where's Draco?"

"He's next to you."

Hermione turned her head and saw Draco asleep in the bed beside her. "Was he attacked, too?"

Blaise shook his head. "No, he's just tired. You sure you're okay?"

"I'm dizzy," she replied. "And my arm hurts."

"Madam Pomfrey should be back soon," Blaise said, smiling slightly as he watched her shift uncomfortabley on the bed, immensely resembling a child who didn't want to go to bed.

"Good," she said, looking up at the ceiling. "Because my head hurts. And my stomach. And my arm. Look at this bruise!"

She pulled up her shirt to reveal an ugly purple bruise surrounding her belly-button. "Yikes, Granger! Be more careful next time."

"Hm!" She said, rolling onto her other side, away from Blaise. "Don't tell me what to do," she grumbled.

Blaise had to suppress the urge to laugh as he rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Granger."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Granger? You still awake?"

She didn't reply, and Blaise groaned as he lifted himself out of the chair and wandered around to the other side of the bed. She rolled away from him.

Blaise shook his head. "You can't make this easy on me, can you?" He walked to the other side of the bed and caught her just before she could roll away. She sucked in a huge breath, ready to scream, but Blaise covered her mouth with his hand, his wand just out of reach. "Quiet!" He whispered fiercely. "Do you want to wake up the entire school?"

"She might not, but your obnoxious whispering sure will."

Blaise glared at Draco, whose eyes were still closed. "Get over here and help me with your girlfriend."

Draco glared at Blaise before getting up and swaggering over to Blaise. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Whatever, just help me!" Blaise exclaimed, wondering how Granger ever got to be so strong.

Draco took Hermione's wrists from Blaise and Blaise reached for his wand, muting her voice just as she was about to let out an awful shriek. She tried to cross her arms, but obviously couldn't, so she just glared at the two of them for a few minutes before deciding they weren't worth it and sliding her eyes closed.

"Wait, Granger!" Blaise said. "Madam Pomfrey said not to go to sleep."

She glared again before closing her eyes once more.

"I'm back!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, rushing into the room with a tray of potions.

Blaise discreetly returned Hermione's voice.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," Madam Pomfrey said absently, sorting through her potions and pouring one into a glass. "You're up. Good. I need you to fill this vial with the potion brewing in the back room. Can you do that for me?"

Draco nodded and took the vial, returning a few minutes later with a full glass.

"Miss Granger, darling, can you sit up for me?"

Hermione obliged and sat up using her hand that wasn't hurt. Madam Pomfrey administered several potions.

"Right," said Madam Pomfrey. "You'll need to stay the night. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, you two are dismissed. Go on, to your rooms. It's getting late."

Draco and Blaise nodded and left the room.

"I never did my rounds," Draco exclaimed as they walked.

Blaise shrugged. "Isn't spending time with Granger better than boring old rounds?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Sure, but I don't want to lose my position."

"Draco, your rounds are so that you can stop things like what you did tonight," Blaise replied tiredly. "Quit trying to be so noble and go to sleep."

Draco glared and said the password. "Goodnight, then."

"Night, Drake!" Blaise jogged off down the hall, on his way to the dungeons.

Draco sighed and shook his head as the door swung shut and he was all alone in the big Heads rooms. He jumped at a sound from his bedroom, having thought he was alone. Slowly, pulling out his wand along the way, he crept to his bedroom and pulled open the door, slipping through and closing the door so that the intruder couldn't escape that way. He sighed and chided himself when he saw it was only an owl knocking at his window. Rolling his eyes, he let it in, took the letter, and let Sirius Black's owl zip off into the night.

_Wow, that was fast. I just sent my letter, what? Three hours ago?_

He quickly unrolled the letter and found it wasn't from Sirius, but from the werewolf, Remus Lupin, his previous DADA teacher.

_Dear Mr. Malfoy, _it read, _We have taken your current position into account, and have got you covered completely. As you know, the Black fortune is immense, and thought Mr. Black was disowned, he still recieved everything his parents and brother had after their death. As you can see, he has far more money than he's ever going to be able to use in one single lifetime, so please don't feel like you need to tell us no because it'd be trouble, because really, it will be no trouble. Paying your tuition for you for the rest of the year will barely make a dent in the piles of money Sirius has practically falling out of his ears._

_We've taken it into our hands, and have already discussed everything with Headmaster Dumbledore._

_So, let your father disown you. It happened to Sirius, and look how he turned out! Okay, maybe not. But if it ever happens, we here at the Order have open arms and a spare bedroom._

_Yours truly,_

_Remus Lupin_

Well, that wasn't exactly what Draco had expected to happen, but now that they had offered, why, what kind of man would he be to refuse? He quickly wrote a thank you to send in the morning, and then began the grueling task of writing a letter for his father, basically telling him to sod off. He sighed, thinking of his mother, but knew there wasn't any other way to get through this while _not_ breaking her heart.

Setting the two letters on his bedside table, Draco kicked off his shoes and curled up in bed, knowing that with everything that had happened that very long day, there was absolutely no way he would find sleep that night.

...

Harry and Ron wandered into the Great Hall the next morning, their eyes scanning the entire room for their missing best friend. They asked several Gryffindors if she were anywhere to be found, before fianlly resorting to asking Draco.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked awkwardly, trying to be polite so he could get a straight answer from the blonde boy.

"Potter," Draco aknowledged.

"Er...have you seen Hermione? She didn't stop in the common room this morning and she's not here."

"She's in the hospital wing," Draco replied absently, trying to eat quickly so he could stop in the Owlry before spending the day with Pansy, Blaise and Theo.

Harry looked worried. "What? The hospital wing? Why?"

"What did you do to her?" Ron spat vehemently.

Draco rolled his eyes. "_Saved_ her. She was attacked last night on her way back from-actually, I have no idea where she was coming from. But I took her to the hospital wing."

"Are you sure _you_ didn't _put _her in there?" Ron glared.

Draco returned the glare. "Yes, I'm sure, Weasel. And she probably doesn't appreciate you accusing me. So go on, go visit her and she'll tell you all about how I rescued her, just like the knight in shining armour muggles are always on about."

Harry rolled his eyes this time. "Whatever, Malfoy. Thanks for telling us where she is."

Malfoy returned to his breakfast. "Don't mention it, Potter."

...

By now, Hermione was healed completely. She was just a little tired from all of the healing.

"Merlin, Hermione," Ron said, shaking his head. "I always knew that bloke was bad news, but I never expected him to actually try anything."

Hermione sighed. "Apparently, I didn't either, considering I stayed long enough for him to do this to me."

"Want me to beat him up for you, Mione?" Harry asked, always the best friend.

Hermione laughed. "Thanks, Harry, but I'll pass. I rather like your face the way it is."

Harry tried to act offended, but ended up grinning and laughing with his two best friends.

"So, where's Draco?" Hermione asked finally.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, jaws dropped.

"What?" Hermione exclaimed.

_"Draco?" _Harry said incredulously.

"What?" Hermione repeated defensively. "It's his _name _isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh come _on, _boys. Quit being so childish. I call my _friends _by their first names."

Ron choked and his face turned a nasty shade of red. "Your _friend?_ Since when has he been your friend?"

Hermione shrugged. "I've decided to give him a chance. Is there a problem, Ronald? Because I don't comment on who _you _choose to spend your time with."

His face flushed, this time from embarassment.

"Exactly," Hermione said. "So leave me alone. If I want to be friends with Malfoy, I'll be friends with Malfoy."

"Does Malfoy know you're friends with Malfoy?" Harry asked skeptically, one eyebrow raised.

Hermione sighed. "Malfoy knows I'm _trying _to be friends with Malfoy." She shrugged. "Which is enough."

At least, she hoped it was enough. Because so far, just knowing she wanted to be his friend wasn't helping very much. Not much at all.


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione was released from the Hospital Wing that afternoon, and she left with Harry and Ron to pick up Ginny and Lavender from the common room before they headed out to the grounds.

It was starting to get a bit chilly, and the leaves were beginning to change colour and fall. Hermione took in the scent of Autumn, loving the feeling of the cool air on her face and the way the wind pulled its way through her hair. She, Ginny, Harry and Ron made their way over to a tree they nearly always sat by, setting themselves down and getting comfortable.

Hermione, though, immediately felt uncomfortable when each boyfriend and girlfriend made themselves _comfortable. _She scanned the grounds, hoping to find a distraction, and was beyond relieved when she found one. Getting to her feet, she brushed herself off and told them that she was going to go and talk to some friends for a while.

They just smiled and said their "see you later"'s, knowing she'd be offended if they asked which friends, thinking they thought they were all she had. She took her bookbag and made her way to Pansy, who was beckoning her over to where she was sitting with Theo, Blaise, and Draco. Hermione painted a big smile across her face and sat down beside Pansy. "Hi, guys," she said. "Hope you're all well?"

They all replied in their own way, except Draco, who, for some reason, seemed to be frozen in what looked like fear. Hermione tried to ignore that.

"Feeling better?" Theo asked. "I heard about what happened with Foxworthy." He winked. "Don't worry. I beat him up this morning. I've got lunch detention."

Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed. "Thanks for that, but you didn't have to get yourself in detention just for me."

"Hey!" He exclaimed, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "What are friends for, right?"

She smiled at him. "Well, thank you, then. And I'm fine, thanks for asking. Good as new. It's a good thing Draco and Blaise found me, though, or I would have been a goner."

Draco's eyes jerked to Hermione's at the sound of his name, and they didn't waver a single bit as he appraised her. Hermione was beginning to feel more uncomfortable than she'd been with her friends at his prying stare, but she didn't say anything.

"Yeah, well, Draco did most of the work," Blaise said. "And it's lucky he stormed off angrily after our conversation. Which reminds me, Drake. You owe me ten galleons, don't you?"

Draco's eyes left Hermione to glare at his best friend. "I don't think so."

"Oh, come on," Blaise drawled. "It's only just a matter of time before it happens. Might as well just give it to me now."

"Are you guys going to tell us what you're talking about?" Pansy asked lazily, laying on her side as she absently ran a brush over the tips of her stick-straight brown hair.

"Nope," Draco replied, looking down at a piece of paper he had laying on the grass, his pen held over it. Hermione noticed that it was dated the night before, and his fathers name was written formally on the top, but it had obviously been written with the date. She wondered what he could have to say to him that was causing so much deliberation.

Suddenly, Hermione heard the sound of a screech owl and watched as Sirius' owl, Scar, flew towards them quickly.

"What's Sirius' owl doing here?" She wondered aloud, hardly aware it was leaving her mouth.

"It's for me," Draco replied, untying the letter and taking it into his hands. Hermione stroked the familiar bird with a smile on her face before it hopped off and flew away. Draco shook his head. "Never mind, it's for you."

Hermione was taken aback a bit. "Why would he be-oh, right." She shook her head, knowing that Fred and George had talked with him. She opened the letter, and it confirmed her suspicions.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I hope that your studies are going well and you're making sure Harry and Ron aren't doing anything stupid!_

_Anyways, we have accepted Draco into the Order, as you've probably heard if what Fred and George are saying is true. His father is going to disown him sometime in the future. Draco doesn't know that it's for sure, but I do. Because of this, I've dipped into the enormous fortune my uncle left me, and I'm paying his tuition so that he can become an Auror._

_Anyways, I want you to keep an eye on him. If he's anything like I was after I was disowned, he's going to be pretty upset and do some pretty stupid things. Okay, I wasn't upset. I was ecstatic. But I had no relationship with my parents. He did. I remember I felt a little betrayed, because they were _supposed_ to love me, so I kind of know how he's going to feel. You need to try and control him so he doesn't get kicked out or run away or do something that would prevent him from moving on or from becoming an Auror. We could really use another person who'd been on the inside. Now that Snape's been found out, we can't use him as a spy, but up until recently, Draco's been in on all of there plans. As you can see, very valuable intelligence. And though he'll be utterly useless after he's disowned, we can still use his incredible talent._

_So, that's your assignment. Keep him alive and sane, and try and become his friend. He needs one of those inside the Order, or his life is going to be a pretty sad one._

_Stay in school, and keep those grades up. Ha! Like I even have to remind you._

_See you soon, sweetie._

_Sirius Black_

Hermione folded the letter and slid it into her bookbag. The others looked at her expectantly, and she shrugged. "Sirius Black is like my uncle. He was just seeing how I was. I'll write back later."

They didn't seem to believe her, and Pansy rolled her eyes.

"Fine!" She sighed. "It's strictly Order business."

They seemed to respect that fact.

The group chatted and teased kindly for nearly an hour before it was time to go to lunch. Draco lagged behind a little in picking up his belongings. As discreetly as he could, he caused the bottom of Hermione's bag to fall open.

"Ugh!" She exclaimed. "That's odd. I'll see you guys, later, alright?"

She knelt down and Draco began helping her gather her things.

"Thanks," she said awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Don't mention it, Granger," Draco replied as Hermione easily fixed her bag with a wave of her wand, arms outstretched to take her things from Draco. He held them away from her and she quirked an eyebrow at him. "What did Black want?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Top secret mission for me. Not allowed to tell anybody. Now, my things?"

"Does it have to do with me?"

"If I answer, do you swear you'll give me my things back?" Hermione asked with a sigh.

"Depends on if you answer truthfully or not."

"Yes, it's about you; now can I have my things, please?"

He appraised her for a moment before dumping her things into her bag.

She zipped it up and followed him as he made his way into the castle. "But how did you know that I wasn't lying?"

"I can tell when people are lying to me, Granger," Draco replied. "It's something you just pick up, living with Death Eaters. Otherwise, you could find yourself in some pretty tight situations."

Hermione nodded. "Right, well. I'll see you later, then?"

He nodded, still walking as she slowed down. "Goodbye."

He stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder. "Goodbye, Granger," he replied, before marching the rest of the way to the castle.

"What were you and Malfoy talking about?"

Hermione jumped and gasped, turning around. "Oh, Harry. Nothing, just some Order things."

Harry's eyebrows rose as he and Hermione began walking towards the Great Hall. "So, Malfoy's joined officially?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Sirius sent me this letter."

She pulled it out and handed it to him. He read it as they walked into the Great Hall and took their seats. He handed it back to her, eyebrows raised. "He wants you to _befriend _Malfoy?"

Hermione shrugged. "I guess, that's what he says here."

"Well, that shouldn't be too difficult, then."

"Why do you say that?" Hermione replied.

"Well, you said it yourself," Harry answered, beginning to load his plate. "You and _Draco_ are friends."

"Right," Hermione said, looking down at her food. "Well, then you're right. This shouldn't be too difficult at all."

"Nothings difficult for Hermione Granger," Harry announced with a wink.

Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed, enjoying the rest of lunch with her friends before returning to the Heads Commons to begin her reply to Sirius, which she intended to make it clear that there were absolutely no promises. He was Draco Malfoy, the arch-enemy of her best friend, after all. And though she'd already decided to become his friend, how could she be sure of his reaction?

...

The next couple of days, Hermione began trying to "befriend" Draco, as Harry had put it, and some aspects of this were fairly easy. He seemed to have accepted that joining the Order meant having to at least trust the other members. But some parts were difficult. Hermione would make the smallest comment on something utterly insignificant, like the sky or a colour or her favourite food, and Draco would fall into an odd sort of depression ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. Sometimes, he just stopped reacting to things she said, staring on with a blank look in his grey eyes, as if lost in thought.

He continued his nightly walks after supper, trailing along the side of the castle, and sometimes he even let Hermione join him, as long as she promised to be quiet and not get on his nerves. If he spoke to her, she'd of course reply, but generally, they didn't speak much.

Hermione, though, was becoming so curious about his strange lapses of silence that she was nearly ready to burst.

One day, she decided to ask Pansy about it.

"Don't you see?" said Pansy, who was searching for a book for Blaise, who was too lazy to look for it himself, but too strict about his schedule to give up completely on it. "This is what we meant about Draco being 'distant.' He just stops talking. And have you seen how sad he gets? I mean, it's scary sometimes."

Hermione nodded, handing Pansy the book Blaise had needed. They made their way back to Blaise's table. "But I don't know how you expect me to make him any better."

"Are you kidding me?" Pansy said, eyebrows raised as she set the book next to Blaise. "I've never seen someone get this close to Draco in such a short amount of time, especially someone he supposedly hated."

Hermione sighed. "But he doesn't even ever _talk _to me. We just sort of sit in silence. And then I'll say something completely random and it'll drive him into one of those weird silences."

Pansy shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he connects those things to something he and Kourtney used to talk about? I heard that Kourtney _loved _a good conversation, and she was just _looking_ for stuff to talk about. They probably covered everything there was to talk about."

Hermione thought about that for a moment. "Maybe you're right." She sighed. "But he doesn't even know I know about Kourtney. How can I make him feel better if he won't even tell me about her?" She groaned. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Pansy laughed a little. "Good question, kid. Well, I guess you'll just have to figure that out all by yourself, won't you?"

Hermione glared. "Right."

She left for her room then, trying to put Draco out of her mind. But that night, she found it would be rather difficult to forget about the boy yelling from just one room over.

...

Please review? For my sixteenth birthday, which just so happens to be today? ^^


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione gasped and shot up in bed, covered in a thin layer of sweat, as was per usual when she woke up from one of her nightmares about her parents death. It was strange for her to wake up before one of them was over, but she had woken before it had gotten truly horrifying. Her legs were shaking, but as her pounding heart slowed, she began to notice sounds other than her loud breath, sounds coming from the room next to hers. She threw her wobbly legs over the side of the bed and grabbed her wand from her bedside table as she left the room.

The noises weren't coming from the common room as she had originally thought, but from Draco's room.

She hesitated only a second before opening the door, flooding light into the room and over the sole occupant, who was tossing and turning beneath the sheets on the bed across the room. He made a sound as if he were in pain and tossed towards Hermione. She saw his face. It was contorted in fear, and tears were leaking from his eyes.

Curious and concerned for her unspoken friend, Hermione stepped slowly towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Draco gasped and his eyes flew wide, his hand going automatically towards his wand. When he saw it was only Hermione, he stared into her wide eyes with his own, equally wide ones, before he burst into sobs.

Saying Hermione was shocked was quite an understatement. He buried his face in her stomach, arms wrapped around her frame, crying so hard he was barely breathing. All she could do was awkwardly pat his hair.

Her heart broke. Blaise wasn't lying when he said Draco was in pain, because he was obviously broken, and Hermione couldn't imagine how she'd ever be able to heal this poor boy. She'd either fix him completely, or she'd ruin him, and she didn't know if she wanted that sort of power.

She continued patting his hair as he went on with his uncharacteristic display of emotion. She noticed he was saying something.

"What was that?" she asked softly, and he lifted his face away from her long enough to whisper, "Leave."

Hermione exclaimed softly as she stood, shoving Draco away from her now tear-stained pajamas, glaring evilly at him before storming towards the door. Just as she got there, though, she threw her wand at the floor and stormed over to him, ready to slap him in the face. As her hand went down, his own caught her wrist.

She pulled free and stepped back. "All I want to do is help you," she exclaimed. "And you tell me to leave. I could have left you here, having your nightmares or whatever sort of episode was going on, but I didn't. I chose to help you, and not for any reason like _nobility_ or _money,_ but because I could see that you were really in pain, and I wanted to help!" Draco's eyes were widening as she continued. "And even now I only have that and Sirius wants me to make sure you don't _kill yourself_ keeping me helping you. But you told me to _leave!"_

Draco sat up and looked away. "I didn't ask for your sympathy."

Hermione laughed bitterly. "Maybe you didn't ask for it, but with the way you've been acting, you're getting it! People don't pity me because I moved on, just like I know everyone I lost would have wanted me to!"

His eyes narrowed. "Who told you?"

"Who do you think?" Hermione snapped. "And I don't pity you for your parents because I know that you're old enough now to leave them. It hurts because they're your parents and they're supposed to love you, I know that, but _please _just let me help you, and _stop pushing me away!"_ At the last few words, Hermione was mortified to find that the words had been said forcefully as she began to cry. She sucked in air shudderingly and wiped her eyes before continuing to glare at him.

"Why would I want _your _help?" Draco said stubbornly.

"Because even though you don't want to admit it, we could be friends," Hermione said vehemently. "And you need one. Not one like Blaise or Pansy, you need a close friend, one you can tell anything to, someone who won't judge you based on how you were before the war. Because you and I both know that Blaise and Pansy still treat you like the Slytherin god that you were, but we also know that you aren't anymore."

Draco looked away. It stung a bit that she was right on the money.

"So please, just _let me help you."_

Draco sighed. He wouldn't look at her. "I can't."

Hermione, though, wasn't taking this. She marched over to him, climbed on his bed, one knee on either side of his legs, and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "I don't want any crap about not wanting to get close to people, because I have been betrayed by people and lost people that I've loved, more people than you could ever know. Ron left me, Viktor died. My parents don't know who I am. I've lost people just like you lost your Kourtney. And even though I didn't know her, I'm pretty sure I can say that she probably didn't want you to just let your life pass you without any happiness in it at all. Please. Will you let me be your friend?"

They stared into each others eyes for a few seconds, his grey staring into her brown. Without any thought from Draco, he shot forward and pressed his lips to her.

Hermione, shocked, blushed and moved back. She swallowed hard and looked away. "I'll take that as a yes, then. Goodnight, Draco."

Without another word, Hermione got off of him and ran from the room.

Draco watched her leave, eyes wide and his mouth open.

He flopped back down onto his pillow.

"That..." he began to himself. ...did not just happen."

...

Hm...just thought I'd write a little something before bed. Here you go! I'm gonna go watch my favourite movie now. It's Labyrinth, in case you were wondering. ^^ Ps, I can't remember if I said it or not, but thanks to everyone who said happy birthday! ^^ My party is still going on, until tomorrow, actually. It's a long story. So, bye now!


	14. Chapter 14

Hermione had slept a total of three hours that night, and it was just a light doze, but when her alarm went off, she knew she had to pull herself out of bed if she wanted to make classes on time. She trudged to the bathroom, always the first one awake, but was surprised to find Draco was sitting on the couch, staring down at the flickering fire with far-away eyes

He didn't acknowledge her, so she graced him with the same treatment, walking right passed him and directly into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and dried her hair before she finally noticed the ugly purple bags under her eyes. Sighing, she managed to cover it up with a quick spell before dressing and leaving the bathroom.

Draco was still staring at the fire when she got out. She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Are you going to stare at that fire all day or are you going to go to class like a good Head Boy?"

He glanced at her for barely a second before standing and walking towards the bathroom. As he passed her, he shoved a crinkled piece of parchment into her hands. "Please, if you want to be my friend," he whispered, "don't let me kill myself."

He shut himself in the bathroom, then, and Hermione quickly scanned the letter.

Sirius had been correct. All ties had been officially cut off between Draco and the rest of the Malfoys. Hermione burst through the bathroom door to see Malfoy sitting on the toilet, staring at the wall, just as he'd been doing in the Common room. She pointed her wand and quickly removed anything deadly from the entire bathroom, just in case he'd been serious.

"Enjoy your shower," she said tightly before patting his hand and leaving the bathroom.

Draco came out a few minutes later with wet hair and crinkled robes to find Hermione writing a letter to Sirius. He sat down next to her.

"He was right," Draco said, shaking his head. "He knew my father would do this to me."

Hermione nodded. "He's known your father longer than you have. He's been in a position like yours before."

Draco knew this. "If he was disowned, where did he get all of his money from?"

"A kind uncle," Hermione replied, not looking away from her letter.

Draco snorted softly, humourlessly. "I need to get me one of those."

Hermione shrugged. "You have got one. Sirius."

Draco didn't answer. "Hermione?"

She nodded, still writing, wanting to finish this so she could drop it off in the owlry before breakfast.

"About last night..."

Hermione's quill froze on the paper and she sat up, placing the quill on the table beside the paper. "We don't have to talk about that if you don't want to."

He nodded. "I was just thinking about it, and I just want to clear something up. I have no idea why I did what I did, and I don't know if I'll do it again, because really, I wasn't thinking. I was still caught up in what I'd been dreaming about, and then with everything you said, it just happened without my brain even processing it. But I think that, in light of everything that was said and done last night, we could be friends."

Hermione smiled softly at him. "Good, because I wasn't planning on letting up, and you just made this a heck of a lot easier on me."

Draco tried to smile back, but found it was difficult to do so. Hermione's smile softened even more and she patted his hand again before returning to her letter.

...

After supper that night, Hermione was sitting with Harry and Ginny in the Heads Commons, talking about the next Order meeting that weekend, which Dumbledore would be allowing them to attend, when in came three people Hermione had not expected to see. She jumped to her feet, startling Harry and Ginny out of their wits.

"Pansy, Blaise, Theo?" Hermione exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing here? How did you even get _in here?"_

Pansy grinned and shrugged. "If you want something badly enough, it happens," she replied, taking Hermione's wrist. "Say goodbye to your friends, we need to talk to you."

Hermione rolled her eyes and apologised to Ginny and Harry over her shoulder before following the changed Slytherins through the portrait hole and out into the corridor. They pulled her up several flights of stairs and through several corridors before finally they stopped in a small alcove, lit only by a small ray of moonlight.

"What the heck is going on here?" Hermione demanded.

"I could be asking you the same question!" Pansy exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "What's happened with Draco? It's as if he's started all over!"

Hermione's eyes widened. "You mean he didn't tell you?"

She rose her eyebrows. "Tell us what?"

Hermione shook her head. "Listen, you'll have to ask him, and if he wants to, he'll tell you. It's not my place to tell you. But you don't have to worry about your little plan, because it's working out fine. He agreed to be my friend this morning after a very..." She paused, thinking for an appropriate word. "...interesting conversation last night."

"So, you're friends now?" Blaise asked.

Hermione nodded. "Sure."

"Yes!" He pumped his fist and turned to Theo. "You owe me twenty galleons! I'm always right!"

Theo rolled his eyes and handed him the money. "I knew betting they would kill each other first wouldn't win me any money."

Hermione laughed shortly and rolled her eyes. "Are you guys okay now? May I go back to my friends?"

Pansy nodded. "You're dismissed. But don't forget about Draco. If he's your friend now, you've got to remember to talk to him."

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Yes, Pansy. Goodbye, then. Get to your common rooms before I have to take points."

Blaise grumbled something angrily before he followed sadly behind the other obliging Slytherins, and Hermione laughed at his attitude, turning to leave them for her bedroom.

Her day of classes after such a long weekend and so little sleep the night before had left her with a severe need of sleep. So she trudged to the Heads Commons, finding Draco sitting on the couch, doing his Charms homework.

He glanced up from his homework as she entered. "Hey."

She nodded and went to sit beside him. "Are you coming to the Order meeting this Saturday?"

He rose his eyebrows. "We're allowed to leave school for the Order?"

She nodded. "Dumbledore's made an exception for Harry, Ginny, Ron and I because we're the only student Order members. I'm positive he'd let you come, too."

"Am I invited?"

Hermione shrugged. "Sure. Besides, your under my watch until you get your feet wet, so get used to having me around a lot more than normal."

He sighed. "Great."

Hermione giggled. "Don't worry, I'll try to keep my distance when we're not working."

He shook his head. "I don't really mind anymore."

Hermione's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "What?"

He shrugged. "Well, we are friends now, aren't we? I'm pretty sure that means I can endure having a conversation or lunch with you or something."

Hermione nodded slightly. "Okay...do you want to have a conversation now?"

He shrugged again, back to his homework. "I don't know. Do you have anything to converse about?"

She shrugged. "Gravity?"

"AKA, nothing?"

She laughed. "I guess you're right. You got anything?"

"Nothing I feel like working myself up over," he replied. "If you don't mind, crying once a week is more than enough for me, so I think I'll stay off of the sketchy topics for now."

Hermione nodded. "Whenever you feel like talking about it, feel free."

He nodded as well and Hermione stood up, her bed calling to her. When she'd reached the door, she heard the tiniest sound, a whisper, really, but it was there nonetheless.

"Thank you, Hermione."

When the shock of the sound of her name being spoken by him had subsided, she lowered her head and opened the door.

"Any time."

...

Yay, another chapter. ^^ Hope you enjoyed it! I know I liked writing it, but I don't know...seems kind of all over to me. Oh, well. I wanted to clear up the whole kiss thing, cuz even _I _thought it was pretty unexpected. I knew it was when I posted it, and I knew I'd get a lot of questions about it. So I partially cleared it up.

Anyways, reviews always help to motivate me! ^^ Bye for now, guys!


	15. Chapter 15

"Ready for the meeting?"

Hermione seemed to come out of no where, but now she was there, looming over Draco, a backpack over her shoulder, wearing robes that didn't belong to the school. They were dark purple and the sleeves weren't quite as baggy. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and she had a determined sort of look on her face.

"Sure," Draco replied, standing quickly and stuffing the book he'd been reading into his own backpack. She nodded and left the room, Draco following quickly after her.

They needed to make a stop at Gryffindor Tower to pick up Harry, Ginny and Ron, and then they would floo to Number 12 Grimmauld Place with Dumbledore at their side.

When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione quickly turned to Draco. "You don't have to come in if you don't want to."

Draco straightened his back and raised his chin, trying to prove that he wasn't afraid to go through a bunch of Gryffindors. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to the Fat Lady, saying the password and quickly entering when she had swung open.

Draco followed in after her. He'd been into the Gryffindor common room once before, but he didn't recall it ever being so bright. Everything was red and gold, and the fire in the fire place seemed to glow as brightly as the pride of the Gryffindors as they moved out of the way of Hermione and Draco. They seemed to look down their noses at Draco, who just rolled his eyes. Their common room wasn't that great. Actually, it was positively stifling.

They found Harry, Ginny and Ron seated by one of the fireplaces in the room, closest to the furthest corner of the room. When they'd spotted Hermione and Draco, they stood and slung their backpacks over their shoulders. Without a single word being spoken, the five of them left Gryffindor Tower, headed to Dumbledore's office.

Hermione said the password, and the group entered.

Dumbledore smiled cheerily at them, standing and setting aside his quill. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall stood in the back of ther room as well. "Ah, good evening, children," he said, still smiling as he reached above the fireplace for a small clay jar. "Ready for tonight's meeting?"

The four who had done this before nodded. Draco was a bit hesitant. Was it too late to turn back now...?

"Ah, don't be frightened, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, noticing Draco's hesitance. His eyes twinkled. "None will bite. The Order members are quite friendly, and will accept you with open arms."

Draco nodded shortly at the man, who offered Harry the first handfull of floo powder.

"Number 12, Grimmauld Place," Harry said clearly, and in a flash of flame, Harry was gone.

Ginny went next, then Ron, and then the jar was offered to Draco. His throat dry, Draco took a handfull of the sand-like powder and stepped into the floo. He stated his destination clearly, and dropped the dust.

He stepped out of the fireplace with grace, coughing only slightly as he swept his hand over his robes, removing any powder that may have flown back up at him. Then, he looked around, seeing all of the familiar faces. Normally, one finds solace in familiar faces, but not when the faces were only familiar because they were the faces of the enemies of your past.

Mrs. Weasley was the first to smile at him. It was almost an immediate reaction. She came forward with a bright smile, holding out her arms for him. She gave him a warm hug, something he hadn't felt in several years.

"I'm so glad you decided to join us, Mr. Malfoy," she said, patting his cheek. "Are you hungry? I'll have supper ready in just a few moments."

He nodded at her. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."

She smiled at him once again before turning and rushing towards the stove in the back of the room they were in. He'd never been in a such a large house where the kitchen and the dining room were connected. Sure, he knew it was common in smaller households, but in such a large place?

He recognised a few other faces-his old DADA professor, Remus Lupin, and his wife, Tonks, his cousin; Sirius Black, the convict and Harry's godfather; the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt; Mr. Weasley, and several other Weasleys, including the beautiful Fleur. He also recognised Oliver Wood, a previous student at Hogwarts. So basically, he knew everyone there. Shortly after he stepped forward awkwardly, Hermione stepped out of the floo, and that's when the faces really started to light up.

"Hermione!" Several people exclaimed, and she was showered with smiles.

"Hello," she said breathlessly, sweeping ash from her robes and smiling kindly at the group of them. "It's good to see you all. Remus, I forgot my quill, would you perhaps have one that I can borrow?"

"Sure, Hermione," Remus replied, going to grab one from a canister on the counter, along with jar of ink. "Did you bring your notes?"

She nodded and reached for the pen and ink, setting it down on the right hand side of the head of the table. She sat down there as well.

"Mr. Malfoy, you can sit next to Miss Granger," said Remus. "She is to be your mentor until you've become a proper Auror."

Draco fought to keep it to himself that Hermione was no more of a proper Auror than himself and took his seat. Hermione was bent over her paper, reading her notes and refreshing her memory over what they had discussed the last time they had all met together.

Draco sat awkwardly. He and Hermione were the only two sitting, everyone else conversig and laughing and having a good time. Well, everyone but his godfather, who stood glaring at the lot of them from the corner. He wondered how anything got done around here without the discipline the Dark Lord had ruled with.

"You ready for your initiation, kid?"

Draco looked to the voice of whomever was adressing him and cocked an eyebrow. "Initiation?"

It was Sirius Black, a devious grin painted across his face. "Of course! Every group has to have an initiation! We all know what it is to become a Death Eater, don't we?" Draco shifted uncomfortably, rubbing discreetly at his arm. "Well, ours is nothing like that. It's a lot less painful, but a whole lot more permanant."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Quit scaring Draco and stop trying to make that ridiculous ceremony an initiation! Merlin, Sirius, do you live off of embarassing people?"

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Maybe. But you know how serious this is, don't you? I mean, remember your initiation?"

Hermione laughed lightly. "Yes, but I don't care to be reminded."

Sirius laughed some more. "Ah, come on. It's all in good fun. We'll initiate you after supper. That way, we can make sure you're an official member before we let leak any of our secrets."

"Right," said Draco, believing this to be the most serious of anything he'd ever done. What could be more permanant than a Dark Mark?

"Listen," Hermione said, setting down her quill and looking sideways at Draco. She looked very amused. "Don't take anything Sirius says to heart, okay? He lives for girls and jokes. His little initiation is mainly for his own amusement, but he knows it always manages to loosen the target up and make them more comfortable with everyone in the Order."

Draco nodded. "What's the initiation?"

Hermione laughed. "Sirius'll kill me if I tell you. Don't worry, it's nothing too bad. And you can even lie if you want to. Like I said, it's not a legitamate initiation. It's all a joke. The real initiation happened before you were even a member, at one of our meetings when we decided you were worthy of joining the Order."

Draco nodded, thinking hard about this. He really hated having jokes played upon him, probably more than anything else in the world. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but he definitely did not enjoy being made a fool of. But if it was the only way for him to gain these people's trust, and maybe allow him to be more friendly with them, so he didn't end up like Professor Snape, then he'd do it.

Mrs. Weasley levitated large trays piled high with food, and Arthur helped along by waving his wand, setting the table neatly. Hermione set aside her notes and, with a happy yell of "Dig in!" everyone began piling food onto their plates. "Pass the potatoes," and "Who wants a roll?"'s could be heard from all over, and Draco just stared dumbly as everyone's plates gradually began to fill.

Hermione nudged him in the ribs. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Without another moment of hesitation, Draco filled his plate as well. Supper passed happily, everyone chatting and filling their stomachs, and not a mention of the war was made. It was all "How's school?" and "Is your mother doing alright?" and "Do I have to visit Auntie this summer?" There wasn't an ounce of seriousness, and Draco couldn't help but feel a lot more than a little out of place.

When everyone had finished, the plates were instantly cleaned and filled with generous helpings of dessert. Draco wasn't sure he could force anything else down his throat, but he didn't want to be rude. You know how it is. So, he ate his dessert, savouring the flavour. Finally the plates stacked themselves in the sink, the leftovers packed themselves into Tupperwares and found themselves in the ice box, and Mrs. Weasley stood to begin hand washing dishes, as Remus stood at the head of the table, ready to lead the meeting.

"Before our meeting!" Sirius exclaimed, slamming a hand down on the table. He was seated to the left of Remus, directly across from Hermione, who had pulled out her notes and was readying her quill, and horizontal to Draco. "We must introduce and initiate our newest Order member, Draco Malfoy! Stand up, Draco."

Draco did as he was told and nodded his head as everyone clapped.

"Welcome to the Order, son," Remus said with a smile. Draco's lips twitched into a sort-of-smile as he nodded at his old professor.

"Draco Malfoy is a Slytherin, a Gemini, and godson to the holy Severus Snape. He's fan of Quidditch and Twisted Sister-" Draco's eyes widened as he wondered how on earth this man could possibly know his favourite band was Twisted Sister, "-and he has converted to the ways of the good! Now that we know a little bit about you, Mr. Malfoy," Sirius glanced at Draco and winked, smiling good-naturedly, "It is time for your initiation."

Draco nodded. "Alright."

Sirius grinned. "Good. Mr. Malfoy, for your initiation, you must answer one question aloud to the group. If I do not find the answer adequate, I will keep asking for answers until the proper answer has been given. Are you ready?"

Draco nodded again.

Sirius gave him a mock-serious, pointed stare. "What is the most embarassing thing you've done in the past month?"

...

Oh, Sirius. You joker. ^^

Well, I hope you liked this! Well, it certainly lightened the mood, didn't it? I think I wrote this cuz I'm in such a good mood.

Drop me a review, please! I'm always greatful!  
>You're ever-humble wordsmith,<p>

Dr. Rae


	16. Chapter 16

Draco thought out his answer carefully-for, what if this was all a trick? What if he phrased something incorrectly, and he ended up being kicked out on the streets? He wouldn't like that. He wanted this spot in the Order more than anything.

He thought very hard-Hermione said that it was mainly for Sirius' amusement, so it wasn't real and he could lie. If he lied and made up an extremely embarassing, yet hilarious story, he could get on Black's good side, which seemed like the way to go. But Hermione also said that it loosened him up and got him more comfortable with the other Order members. So maybe he should tell the truth. That way, they all knew something about him, he'd have it off his chest, and he wouldn't end up like Snape.

"We're waiting, Malfoy," Sirius said, smirking widely.

Draco decided to go with the truth. "I once tripped down the Grand Staircase and spilled ink all over my clothes."

"Pffft," Sirius said, waving his answer off. "That's not that embarassing. Come on, something that would be embarassing just because you had to tell us!"

"My Aunt Bellatrix calls me Drakie-Poo," Draco said through gritted teeth.

"Quite embarassing, I have to admit," Sirius said, rubbing his chin as he thought. "But I don't think we're there yet. You don't call yourself Drakie-poo, do you? Didn't think so. It's got to be something _you've _done."

Draco thought long and hard. What was something that he'd done that would be embarassing to tell these people who were practically strangers to him? Hm...

"I had a nightmare a few weeks back," Draco began.

"Everyone has nightmares," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

Draco fought not to glare in his irritation at being interrupted. "I'm not finished yet. Anyways, Hermione came in to make sure I wasn't dead, and I started crying." And then, before he could stop himself, he blurted, "And when she tried to make me feel bad about me kicking her out, I kissed her."

There was a short silence, before Sirius burst out laughing. Then, a few others began chuckling, and Sirius began a growing round of applause. "Go Malfoy!" He exclaimed.

Hermione rolled her eyes and, to Draco's surprise-he'd expected her to be angry-she began laughing as well. "It was quite a surprise, I must admit," Hermione added.

"How was she, kid?" Sirius said. "I hear there're hundreds of Gryffindors wishing they had Miss Granger here on there arm."

Draco rolled his eyes, like Hermione had earlier. "I can't quite remember."

"Probably not that great, considering I didn't do anything," Hermione laughed. "I mean, it happened so fast and I was so shocked I just stood there for a few moments before I just sort of wandered away."

The Order shared their laughter for a few moments before Remus stood up, still chuckling a little. "Alright, guys, we've got a long meeting ahead of us, and it's already seven-thirty. We should probably start now. Quill ready, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, head bent over her paper, hand poised to write.

"We've gotten inside information that a legion of Death Eaters are being sent to attack the ministry in two weeks time," Remus said. "In the meantime, they've been kidnapping people valuable to the Order. We've been ordered not to go after them by the head of Auror's, and a group of Auror's have been sent out to retrieve them. We don't think they'll be harmed, if their current need for information is as drastic as it's appearing."

Draco slowly rose his hand. Remus nodded at him, a small smile on his lips. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Er, I just wanted to let you know that the kidnapped prisoners are being kept in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor," Draco said. "They aren't being held for information or anything, they just want a reason to attack, and any information is just a perk."

Remus' smile grew. "Kingsley, alert the Head of Auror's," he said. "Mr. Malfoy, thank you very much. That was a critical piece of information."

Draco nodded and tried to return the smile, but he knew it would only come out sarcastic, so settled with a small, half-smile.

Remus continued the meeting after the Minister of Magic returned from having sent out a patronus to the Head of the Auror division. Draco was able to volunteer boatloads of information about the next attack, how they were training, and what was planned. He even knew who was leading the mission-his father, Bellatrix, and he, himself, was supposed to lead the attack. He knew there would be exactly onehundred Death Eaters during this attack, and when and where the attack would happen.

Hermione wrote down every last important piece of information spoken. At around nine-thirty, they decided to take a small break so that Hermione could rest her cramping hand, and so the five students from Hogwarts could take their backpacks to their rooms so they could be ready for bed as soon as the meeting ended. Hermione took her bag to her and Ginny's shared room, and Harry and Ron led Draco to the room they'd be sharing. A third bed had been set up in there just for him. He stared at the bed, on the opposite side of the room from the other two beds, right in front of the window ledge. He sighed and set his backpack on the side of the bed. This would be his bedroom when he graduated if he didn't get any sort of job.

After he set his bag down, he sat down on the bed, and almost collapsed unconscious. He missed his bed. He needed sleep.

But Harry and Ron would prevent his short, five minute nap before they were due back downstairs.

"Did you really kiss Hermione, or was that a lie?"

Draco's eyes peeked open, and he saw Weasley leaning against the wall behind his bed, arms crossed, glaring fiercely at Draco.

"Yeah," Draco replied smugly, smirking. "Why? Jealous?"

Ron's glare intensified.

"Did you think I would _lie, _Weasley?" Draco replied.

"Everyone lies on Sirius' stupid initiation!" Ron said. "Except for Hermione, of course. And _you."_

Draco rolled his eyes.

"But that's not what we're talking about," Ron spat. "What we're talking about is your greasy Slytherin lips raping Hermione's soft, Gryffindor ones."

Draco laughed. "Right, I'm sorry. But, the last time I checked, you were snogging Hogwarts resident slut, Lavender Brown. Weren't you?"

Ron glared even harder, if that was at all possible, and he jumped to his feet, making to launch himself at Draco. But Draco stopped him with one single sentence.

"Can't you see how much it hurts her?"

Ron's eyebrows narrowed as he stopped, thinking hard about what Draco had just said. "What hurts who?"

Draco sighed. "You really are completely ignorant, aren't you? You. Dating Lavender. Hurting Hermione."

"I'm not hurting Hermione!" Ron said. "We both agreed that breaking up would be best."

"For you, maybe," Draco replied. "At least, in Hermione's eyes. She's a wreck, you know? But if you were to ask me, it was for the best. So she wasn't with a git like you."

Ron's glare returned and he snarled.

"Come on, guys, let's not fight," Harry said. "Hermione really wouldn't like us talking about her..."

"It's in her best interest," Draco said, ignoring Harry. "Being away from you. You would only end up hurting her more in the end."

"I love Hermione!" Ron exclaimed.

"Right," Draco said, stretching out on the bed with his hands cradeling his head. "That's why you're with her and not shagging Brown everytime you have a free couple of minutes."

"That's enough, Malfoy," Harry said, grabbing Ron's arm and shoving him back onto his bed. "I said Hermione wouldn't like us talking about her, I won't let you guys talk about her. I think you've both made your points clear enough. Draco, you think Hermione deserves better, Ron...well, you made no sense, honestly. But we've got to go back to the meeting now."

Draco groaned as he pulled himself up out of the bed and left without saying another word. The other two followed, discussing something in hushed whispers behind him.

...

After the meeting that night, Draco felt complete. Everyone had wished him goodnight before leaving. He couldn't remember the last time that had happened to him, and it felt wonderful. Mrs. Weasley even gave him a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a glass of milk for the walk up the stairs, wishing him sweet dreams along with the other students headed up the stairs for bed. Everyone had taken to him immediately. Well, everyone but Ron, who had his reasons for being angry. Draco was purposely trying to irritate him, if he was being honest with himself. But Harry was even accepting of him. He'd told Draco on the way up the stairs that if Hermione trusted him, then he trusted him as well.

Draco, sipping his milk and trying to remember the last time he'd had milk before bed, wandered up the stairs to his bedroom. He set his glass of milk on the table and grabbed his backpack before searching out the nearest bathroom.

He bumped into Hermione, and felt the need to say something that had been bugging him since he thought of it. "Listen, I'm sorry for telling everyone we kissed," he said awkwardly. "I mean, Sirius wasn't leaving me alone and it just kind of came out-"

Hermione stopped him by laughing. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Really. Everyone here are friends. There are no secrets among friends. Fred and George probably already told everyone, anyways. It's no big deal."

Draco stared at her for a minute or two before nodding, a very small smile on his lips. "Thanks Hermione."

Before she could ask what for, he kissed her cheek and walked past her and into the bathroom. Hermione simply shrugged at his uncharacteristic behaviour and continued down the hall and into her bedroom. Once here, she set her bag on the floor beside her bed and pulled back her comforter, snuggling into the warmth. She heard a crinkling sound when her head hit the pillow, and lifted her head up, using her wand for light. There was a small scrap of parchment rested on her pillow.

_Meet me in the underground gardens at midnight. I need to talk to you about something._

_Love, Ron_

Hermione was a bit surprised at his sudden need to see her, when he was just across the hall, but shrugged and glanced at her watch, sitting on the bedside table. It was ten-thirty. Setting her muggle alarm clock for 12:00 am, Hermione set aside the note and snuggled up once again, a smile on her face as she sunk into the comfort, her eyes sliding shut.

But before she could sleep, she felt something hit her in the face. Groaning, she pushed Ginny's pillow to the floor.

"Was that really necessary?" she said sleepily.

"That was for not telling me that you and Draco kissed!" Ginny exclaimed, throwing the pillow at Hermione once again. "I thought we were supposed to be best friends! Best friends tell each other these things!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you bring this up during our break, when I wasn't trying to sleep?"

"I wanted to wait until you were trying to sleep so it would be more punishment."

Hermione sighed. "I guess it just sort of...slipped my mind."

"How on earth did it slip your mind?" Ginny nearly shrieked. "You kissed Draco Bloody Malfoy, Slytherin sex-god!"

Hermione laughed. "Why does everyone call him that?"

"Because it's the truth!" Ginny exclaimed. "And don't you dare change the subject."

"This conversation is over, Ginevra," Hermione said, using Ginny's full name to emphasise the fact. "He kissed me out of shock, and that's all. Goodnight."

Hermione could feel Ginny's glare burning holes in her back, but she chose to close her eyes and ignore it.

She was asleep within minutes.

...

Hope you enjoyed! ^^


	17. Chapter 17

Beneath the cellar of Number 12 Grimmauld Place was a mysterious place only a choice few knew of. Sirius himself had discovered it with James, Peter, and Remus when they were just thirteen years old, and not even his own mother had known of its existence. Beneath the cellar was a crawlspace charmed with magic fresh air and sunlight. It was always shining on the beautiful gardens held beneath number 12. There were no animals down here besides the bees and butterflies, which helped to continue to pollinate the flowers, which were in abundance. It would take at least a half an hour to walk around the entire length of this beautiful garden. At the center was a koi pond the size of a van, and stretching across it was a maroon coloured bridge.

It was on this bridge that Hermione found her ex-boyfriend waiting for her. She sleepily rubbed her eyes and tried to see through the sunlight, which was uncharacteristic for midnight; but in this magical, underground, secret garden, the sun never set.

Ron turned towards her when she approached him, and she tried to smile through a yawn. "What's the meaning of this, Ronald? You sleep right across the hall. Couldn't you have waited until morning?"

Ron shook his head. "I wanted to make sure no one overheard us."

Hermione finally reached him and sat down on the railing of the bridge, slouching forward. "Alright, what is it?"

Ron took a deep breath. "Hermione, I want to know what's going on between you and Draco."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Are you two...together?"

Hermione's other eyebrow rose to join the other one. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

"Are you?" Ron pressed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We're not, Ron. Are you happy?"

"But do you fancy him?"

Hermione sighed and got down from the railing. "Why do you even care, Ronald? You've got a girlfriend, don't you? You shouldn't care whether or not your _ex_ is seeing someone else. Which I'm _not, _by the way."

"You didn't answer my question," Ron said, crossing his arms.

"Because I don't think it's a suitable question!" Hermione exclaimed. "I shouldn't have to answer to you! _You _broke up with _me, _if I recall correctly."

"I thought we decided it was for the best."

"We did, which is why I don't understand what you're getting at!" Hermione vociferated, flustered. She was confused and just wanted to be asleep right now.

Before Hermione could blink, Ron had stepped forward and kissed Hermione roughly on the mouth. Hermione was horrified to find herself kissing back. She took a step back, pulling her mouth from his, and pulled back her hand to slap him hard in the face. He caught her wrist as her hand snapped forward, and stared deep into her eyes. "Hermione."

Hermione ripped her wrist from his hand. "What the bloody hell was that?" Hermione bellowed. "You've got a girlfriend! Ron, I was too upset about you for too long to come back now just because you're jealous that I may have feelings for someone that's not you!"

"So you do like him, then?" Ron said as Hermione turned to walk away.

Hermione stopped and glanced over her shoulder to see him standing there, just staring at her despondently.

"Maybe I do. It doesn't have anything to do with you, though. Not anymore."

She turned and didn't look back.

...

The next morning, Hermione awoke tired and cranky from the night before, but did well hiding it. She was greeted cheerfully by the other Order members who slept here and by those who had shown up simply to enjoy Molly's breakfast and see the kids back off to Hogwarts. She didn't give Ron even a single glance during breakfast, and successfully avoided him the entire morning. When she went upstairs to pack up her things before the group was to return to Hogwarts, though, she was stopped by the subject of her and Ron's conversation the night before.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Draco asked her. "You've been really quiet, and you look kind of tired."

Hermione smirked a little. "I thought I was the one who was supposed to be watching you?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I was just curious." He shrugged. "Just trying to be a _friend."_

Hermione sighed and her shoulders slumped. She dropped a piece of parchment into her bag and sat down on the floor of her bedroom. "It's nothing. Ronald just gave me a lot to think about last night."

Draco's eyebrows raised. "When did you and Weasley talk?"

"Like I said, last night," Hermione said absently. "Draco, are you ready to be a friend?"

Draco was a bit hesitant, but tentatively walked towards her and sat down next to her on the floor. "Okay."

Hermione sighed again. "I would tell Ginny, but he's her brother, so she would automatically side with him, no matter how stupid she thinks he is. You hate him, so that's not much help, but Ron is Harry's friend and I don't want to break them up, either. And-"

"Just tell me what's wrong, Granger," Draco finally interrupted.

Hermione sighed for the third time in the past minute and closed her eyes. "Ron kissed me last night."

"That git."

Hermione laughed shortly and without humour. "Thanks."

"Why'd he do it?" Draco asked. "I mean, he's got Brown. And he left you."

"Exactly what I said!" Hermione exclaimed, inwardly marvelling at how good Draco was at listening. "I think he was just jealous that I might fancy someone other than himself, so he was trying to win me back, even though he has Lavender. He's only with her because I refused to sleep with him, the prat. I mean, who-"

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Draco finally interrupted again. "Fancy who?"

Hermione turned to him, looking away from her hands. "Pardon me?"

"You said jealous you may fancy someone other than him," Draco replied. "Who did you mean?"

"Well, I-" Hermione froze. She didn't fancy _Draco! _She nearly laughed aloud at the ridiculous notion. No, she'd only said that last night because Ron thought it was true. Right? Hermione shook her head to clear her thoughts and shrugged. "No one. It was just me fancying others in general. Anyone, really-"

"But someone had to have brought this on," Draco contradicted. "He must have noticed you spending a lot of time with someone and talking to someone-" here Draco realised he was referring to himself, but he continued his sentence despite that, hoping Hermione hadn't noticed the small shock in his eyes- "to think you might fancy someone, right?"

Hermione looked down at the palms of her hands and tried to laugh the next bit off. "It seems he's got the ridiculous idea that you and I are together." She laughed here. "Isn't that ridiculous."

Draco swallowed hard and tried to sound teasing. "Ridiculous! So, you want me to punch him or something?"

Hermione bursted into laughter and shook her head. "That's a good way to get yourself kicked out before you're really a true member."

"Hey, I'm a member!" Draco defended. "I did the crappy initiation."

Hermione smiled, looking sideways at him. "That you did. Anyways, I guess I sort of just needed someone to tell. I don't know what you're going to do with the information..."

Draco shrugged. "Keep it to myself. Why would I tell anyone else?"

Hermione's smile softened. "Thanks, Draco."

She got to her feet and slung her backpack over her shoulder before bending down to leave a light kiss on his cheek. Then, she returned downstairs to wait for everyone to be ready to floo back to Hogwarts.


	18. Chapter 18

The group returned to Hogwarts just in time for dinner in the Great Hall. As after every Order meeting, everyone begged for information, which Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry managed to keep secret. They only told a few things-who was winning, who was missing, who had the most chances of winning.

There was, however, a bit of information that Hermione Granger was unable to conceal.

"Well?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and tucked a strand of hair, which had been whipping in the chilling wind, behind her ear, red with cold.

"Pansy, can we please go inside?" Hermione implored. "It's freezing out here!"

Pansy groaned. "Why won't you tell me what happened?"

"Because there's nothing to tell!" Hermione exclaimed. "Nothing happened between Draco and I!"

"Okay," said Pansy stubbornly. "Something happened that wasn't between you and Draco."

Hermione's cheeks tinged with something not from the cold and she shrugged unconfidently. "Not really..."

"Hermione," Pansy said firmly. "We've been out here for a half an hour. Curfew is in twenty minutes, and I have every intention of keeping you out after that until you give me answers."

"Alright!" Hermione said. She had rounds that night. "Ronald kissed me, okay?"

Pansy's jaw dropped a bit. "But he's got Lavender!"

"Exactly," Hermione simply stated. "But he doesn't seem happy enough with Lavender, I suppose. He wants me back. And it's only because he thinks Draco and I are secretly dating or something."

Pansy growled. "That's so _stupid_! Not you and Draco dating, I think you'd be adorable, but that mother-"

"Wait," Hermione interrupted. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing, yet," Pansy said before she attempted to launch back into her rant.

"No, about me and Draco?"

Pansy thought for a split second. "I think I said something about you two being adorable together...why, exactly?"

Hermione blushed. "We wouldn't be adorable together."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Of course you would be! Now, where was I?"

"I'm going in, Pansy," Hermione interrupted once more. "I'm freezing."

"Fine," Pansy said. "Whatever. But I'm still angry. I'm going to KILL that son of a b-"

Hermione tuned out completely and tried not to think about what Pansy had just said about her and Draco. She was thoroughly confused about her emotions _again_, and it was very unsettling, considering the last time this had happened, she'd somehow ended up Draco's friend and mentor in the Order. Now she was stuck between friend and date, as before it had been enemy and friend. She'd gone towards friend last time, what would happen now?

Oh, good Godric. What if she made the wrong decision? What if she chose to stay friends and Draco wanted more? What if she chose to tell him she may have stronger feelings and he rejected her? What if he still loved this Kourtney too much to be anything more than where they were now?

Hermione took a shuddering breath, but Pansy only took it from the cold and continued to curse Ron to the deepest circle of hell.

Hermione sighed as they stepped into the castle. He couldn't have thought much of her. He hadn't mentioned anything more than the information she already knew about Kourtney. But he did tell her his other thoughts sometimes, and tended to value her opinion over others. And he was comfortable enough to talk about their kiss the night before at the meeting.

But all that had done was brought it to the surface again, and now Hermione had that in her head.

She sighed once more when they'd reached the heads commons, where Hermione was going to stop and warm up before rounds.

"Goodbye, Pansy," she said as Pansy tried to get in a few last words before the door closed.

"Yeah, night."

Pansy turned and marched off in the direction of the Slytherin Commons, grumbling one last time. "To think he could just suppose it was _alright _to kiss someone not his girlfriend..."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said the password, entering the Heads Commons. Draco stood at the centre of the room, looking down at a piece of paper in his hands.

"Draco?" Hermione asked tentatively. She took a few steps toward him and he shifted to acknowledge her presence.

"Hermione, we've got a letter."

Hermione set down her backpack and curiously reached for the letter, reading it with narrowed eyebrows.

"What could they have to say?" she wondered aloud. "We just had a meeting."

She read it quickly. There were only a few words, but none of them were fun to read.

"Oliver Wood?" Hermione gasped. "That's horrible! Draco, Oliver's been kidnapped!"

Draco nodded. "He was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, right?"

Hermione nodded absently. "Godric. How can they tell us not to worry? He's been kidnapped!"

"Because, Hermione," Draco said, placing a hesitant hand on her shoulder. "Like I said at the meeting. There are Aurors headed to the hiding spot of the kidnapped people right now. They were just letting us know."

Hermione would have protested, but her eyes were fixed on Draco's hand, still rested on her shoulder, and then up to his own eyes. He froze, wondering if he'd done the wrong thing, but before anything could be said, there was a knock at the door.

Hermione ripped away from him, stumbling tipsily across the room. "I'll get it," she spouted breathlessly. She yanked the door open.

The Hufflepuff first year seemed a little frightened, but held out a slip of paper. As soon as Hermione had taken it, he darted off down the hall and around the corner.

Hermione watched him leave before she finally looked down at the paper, reading as she turned, shut the door, and walked back to Draco.

"Dumbledore wants to see us," she said, confused.

Draco nodded and followed Hermione out the door.

The next ten minutes were spent with Dumbledore giving them instructions on planning the next ball.

"And it is customary for the Heads to have a date to the ball, someone to share the first dance with," Dumbledore said, handing the two of them the planning sheet.

Hermione immediately began racking her brain for date ideas, but Draco had someone else in mind.

"Would you go with me, Hermione?"

He seemed shocked himself to have said it at all, but he didn't take it back. Hermione stared at him for a few moments with wide eyes, before she opened her mouth and a sort of squeak managed to slip out.

"Erm, okay."

"It's settled, then!" Dumbledore announced happily, beaming at them. "The Heads shall go to the Christmas Ball together. Oh, shouldn't his be wonderful?"


	19. Chapter 19

Pansy, of course, could not have been more ecstatic over finding out that Draco and Hermione were attending the ball together. Even with the "couple's" violent protests that they were truly not dating or involved in any way besides the "friendly" date, Pansy wouldn't have it. According to Pansy, Draco and Hermione were basically engaged.

Hermione hadn't spoken a word to Ron since their kiss had happened, and she hadn't planned on it, but Ron apparently had different plans, as he confronted her about the date. Harry had tagged along, knowing about the kiss by now. While Ron was furious about everything, Harry really didn't see why not, and actually congratulated Hermione on getting a date, much to both freinds' confusion.

Ginny was quite happy about this as well. She took Hermione to Hogsmeade the very next trip and the two picked out dresses, ready for the dance.

Hermione and Draco's relationship had suddenly become quite awkward at the prospects of why people normally went to school dances together. They tried to remain friends, but their own respective thoughts were going elsewhere.

We'll start with Hermione.

Hermione sat on her bed, her hair wet and draped around her face, her arms wrapped around her robe-clad stomach, staring at the magenta dress magically suspended in the air before her. She sighed. She knew she had to be done getting ready in about a half an hour so she and Draco could head down to the Great Hall and make sure all of the ball preperations had been seen to, and see if the band was there and ready. They had managed to get Cauldron to play, a fairly old band, but whom no one with a sense in good music could resist. Because Cauldron had been formed at Hogwarts, and it was the place in which they had played their first gig, they couldn't say no. They were performing for a price way below Draco and Hermione's budget, allowing for extravagent decorations as well as the band.

But Hermione couldn't will herself away from her thoughts long enough to tell her body to stand and dress so that she _could _get ready. She was still having the conflicting thoughts that had began before. Above anything, she didn't want to end up ruining what she and Draco had now. It could happen so easily, and she didn't want to take the chance. But she knew another way she could ruin it was if Draco _did _want what she secretly wanted, and she didn't act on it. Then she and Draco would both be upset about it, and might even begin to drift apart.

What didn't occur to her was that Draco might be the one to act.

Hermione shook her head to clear her thoughts and set down her wand, removing her dress from the levitating hanger and disrobing before she dropped the soft material around herself. She magically dried her hair and brushed it smooth. As an after thought, she dripped a small amount of perfume onto her fingertips and ran it through her hair. Smiling slightly and perfectly satisfied with her appearance, she left her room.

*A few moments before*

Draco had been ready for hours. He knew it took girls much longer to get ready, but he hadn't planned accordingly, his mind not working correctly with his chaotic thoughts, and he finished getting ready way before Hermione ever possibly could have finished.

He paced back and forth across his room, his tie undone and his collar askew. He had somehow managed to toussle his hair beyond being able to fix it in his unruly state of mind, and he knew he must have looked like a crazy person as he nearly ran back and forth across his room, pulling at his hair and looking all around his room, as if the answers to his confusion would be neatly written across the wallpaper for him to read and understand.

That wasn't how it went, unfortunately.

His mind was haunted by two people. The soft, kind, confused, clumsy, mysterious, thoughtful, and adorable Kourtney, and the strong, friendly, mindful, unselfish, bookish, and gorgeous Hermione. He felt so conflicted. The blonde Kourtney would swim in front of his eyes, smiling and waving sadly as she tried to stay impossibly strong for the both of them. That made him feel sad. And then, before him would be Hermione, her crazy hair everywhere as she poured her thoughts and confusion out to him, her brow creasing as she tried to figure out her emotions, hating the feeling of not understanding something. That made him feel a strange swelling in his heart.

It hurt him to have to choose.

Hermione was right. Kourtney wouldn't have wanted him to mope after her. She was gone for good, and he knew it. Kourtney would have wanted him to love someone else, rather than be stuck to her his entire life.

But Kourtney was the first person he'd ever loved, and the guilt over why she was gone was eating at him constantly.

Another thing that was stopping him from doing what started this conflict in the first place-ask out Hermione _properly, _kissing her tonight at the ball-were Hermione's feelings. What if she only wanted to be friends? What if she still loved Ron too much to come to him? She had been so upset and confused after Ron had kissed her. He knew it was because she didn't want Ron to want her only out of jealousy. The both of them knew that Ron was bad for her. But what if she was having trouble letting go of Ron the way he was having trouble letting go of Kourtney?

He pulled his fingers through his hair again and groaned. His head hurt. On one hand, he wanted Hermione. With all of his heart, he wanted to love that girl.

But on the other hand, he still loved Kourtney, and because of the way she had left him, he felt that he deserved the punishment of never being with anyone ever again.

He heard the door on the other side of the Common room creak as it opened. Sighing, he figured he'd just have to make up his mind on the spot. One thing he'd already decided on doing tonight was taking Hermione to the ball and showing her a good time.

Without a second thought, Draco left his room, grabbing Hermione's corsage from his bedside table.

She was standing in the middle of them room, simply looking around. Her face appeared strained, as if she were doing some heavy thinking, but upon seeing Draco, she began to laugh.

"Did you just get back from wrestling a bear?" She said, shaking her head as she walked towards him. He didn't say anything as she began doing his tie and flattening his collar.

She stepped back and placed her hands on her hips, appraising him thoughtfully. "Now...what should we do with that hair of yours?"

Draco tried reading into her actions as she ran her fingers through his hair, sending pleasurable shivers down his spine, attempting to flatten his ruffled hair. She had a very faraway look in her eyes as she worked, as if she were thinking hard once again, and that crease was forming on her brow. Was she trying to decide on her emotions again?

She stepped away from him, crossing her arms, apparently satisfied with her work. Before she could say anything, Draco thrust his hand towards her.

"Your corsage."

Hermione smiled and took it from him, pinning it neatly to her dress, which Draco noticed for the first time.

As Hermione thanked him genuinely, Draco couldn't take his eyes from her pretty dress. It was a deep magenta colour, and was made of a soft fabric that hung down to her calves, a cinch belt around her waist. The top was baggy, and it had gently tied spaghetti straps holding it up. She had a thin, shimmery scarf wrapped around her arms. A comb with a little dragonfly figure held back the left side of her hair.

"You look amazing," Draco said suddenly.

Her eyes widened thoughtfully, but she smiled and said, "Thank you. Are you ready to go?"

He nodded and held out his arm for her.

The two left the Head Commons together, headed down to the Great Hall. Once they found everything was in order, and Hermione managed to retain her cool after meeting all of the members of Cauldron (them being her favourite band and all), Draco and Hermione left, to return once everyone was there to commence the first dance. They waited up in the small room behind the table the professors sat behind, and waited to be announced.

After the clapping had ceased and there was a short pause before the music, Hermione realised something. Her hand tightened on Draco's.

"Draco," she whispered, her lips barely moving. "I just realised something-I have no idea how to dance."

His lips twitched into a very small smile. "It's alright. My father wouldn't let me leave for Hogwarts unless my dancing tutor was perfectly satisfied. Just follow my lead."

Dancing with Draco was easy and actually sort of fun. As soon as she began to get the hang of it, though, Draco decided that it was enough dancing for one day.

"Do you want to go get something to drink?"

Hermione nodded and Draco took her hand, leading her across the floor.

But suddenly, they couldn't move their feet.

"Oh, no," Hermione moaned, looking up to confirm her suspicions. There it was-charmed mistletoe. They had managed to draw a crowd just by standing there. Hermione recognised almost everyone, which made it worse-Ginny, grinning from ear to ear as she stood with Harry, who gave Hermione two thumbs up; Ron, who looked furious as he stood with an indifferant Lavender, who was showing way too much cleavage; Pansy, who had gone with Theo, and who looked about ready to wet herself in anticipation; Blaise, who had gone by himself, and who was grinning like an idiot; and many, many others.

She looked back at Draco, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her, too entranced by the way he saw a scarlet blush slowly creeping its way up her neck, colouring her face and ears.

"Hermione?"

"Yes?" She said breathlessly.

"Could I...kiss you?"

She didn't move, only hoped she conveyed the right message through her face-she couldn't even bring herself to speak. She swallowed and nodded slowly.

Draco's internal conflict had all but melted away. He took the mistletoe as a sign, and when Hermione didn't protest, that confirmed it. In one fell swoop, Draco captured her lips with his, and he kissed her. This time, it wasn't just a rash action, brought on by confusion and sleep deprivation. This time, it was a confirmation of his decision. She was now his, and he was hers.

He pulled back and smiled at her once she'd opened her eyes. He ignored the cheers around them, the spotlight that had fell upon them, the song Cauldron was now performing just for them. Instead, he tightened his grip on her hand and leaned down towards her ear.

"Let's get out of here."

She grinned and nodded. Draco turned and pushed through the crowd, taking her right out the front doors of the castle. Though it was freezing out and she was having troubles walking through the snow in her heels, curiosity won over everything else, and Hermione followed Draco as he pulled her across the grounds.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

And she did see. Because as soon as they got there, it was all she could see. She looked up into the sky and saw. Through the cracks in the clouds, through the gently falling snow, Hermione could see the shooting stars. It looked as if they were falling to the Earth in the form of snowflakes, and Hermione put out her hands to catch them. She made a wish for Draco for each snowflake that touched her fingertips.

Draco watched her, a smile on his lips. He could tell she liked it, could tell that if he didn't pull her back inside in a few minutes, she'd stay out and endure frostbite just to see it. He could tell that he was slowly falling in love with her.

He just hoped that he could get rid of the little voice in the back of his head, the one that belonged to Kourtney.

...

Finally got to an update! I hope you enjoyed the happiness of this one! But, if you've read any of my other stories...you know that I don't keep happiness through the whole story. Don't worry! I firmly believe in happy endings! ^^ Please review!


	20. Chapter 20

"We should go back inside."

Hermione didn't look back at Draco, but her arms dropped to her sides. She realised how cold she was and nodded before turning to smile at Draco.

"Thank you for showing me this," she said. "I-"

Without any warning, Draco had pulled Hermione to him, kissing her full on the mouth like he had under the mistletoe. Hermione was grateful for his warmth, which was coupled with the warm fuzzy feelings in her stomach, thoroughly warming her for the moment. He pulled away from her to look down into her eyes, which were dazed and almost confused.

"Hermione?" he whispered.

She smiled.

He took a deep breath. "I think...I kind of fancy you."

Her smile widened, showing her now-straight teeth. "I think I kind of fancy you, too."

He let out a sigh of relief and hugged her closer.

After a few moments, he felt her shudder violently, and so he suggested returning to the ball. Which they never did, going straight back up to their room. After Hermione warmed up in the shower, she came out into the common room, wearing a calf-length, pink night-shirt, her hair in the slow process of drying, barefoot and skipping. She sat down beside Draco on the couch, crossing her feet under her.

They talked late into the night. Now that they each felt so much relief over resolving their internal conflicts and finally finding some understanding, they found that they couldn't separate themselves from the other.

Hermione supplied most of the conversation. Draco was still a little hesitant on revealing many details from his past, but at the moment, that didn't really matter. He liked hearing about Hermione. He like asking her questions and receiving her well thought-out answers, ranging from all sorts of topics, to her views on things such as werewolves and centaurs to what her favourite scent was for bubble-bath. It was incredibly strange, knowing such small tidbits about Hermione, but he couldn't help but ask when he thought of the question. He had to know.

He learned all sorts of things: how she'd stood up to bully's at her elementary school before Hogwarts, how she'd won a prize in a local newspaper for a History paper she'd written on the French Revolution, how she'd used to have strange night-terrors (similar to the ones she continued to have now) and how she had a guilty pleasure for romance novels and rocky road ice-cream.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up. He sat up, his neck cracking painfully. He winced and rubbed his neck, peering around to find Hermione. She was laying crouched on the couch, her head resting on the side, her hands rested on either side of her face. Draco peered at his watch. It was seven. They needed to meet Dumbledore in two hours to leave for Number 12, where they'd be spending their Christmas Break. Since neither Draco nor Hermione had a family to celebrate with anymore, and Harry never had, and Ron's would be their anyways, they were all spending it with their new family-the Order.

It felt great to Draco to be wordlessly accepted. He hadn't had to say or do or mark himself in any way to become one of them-he just had to be himself and believe in what they did.

Sighing contentedly, Draco got to his feet and stretched, his back cracking and creaking in several places. He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his already unruly hair, straightened his flannel pants and t-shirt, and then attempted to wake Hermione. He then found out another thing about Hermione-she really wasn't a morning person, just like everyone said. He hadn't realised until just now that it was odd that Harry and Ron made her breakfast plate for her every morning, or that she couldn't walk in a straight line in the morning. But now he did notice, and it was hilarious.

"Hermione?" She made a tiny noise in the back of her throat. "Hermione, you need to go pack your trunk. We're going to Number 12 for Christmas, remember?"

"Mm-mm," she mumbled, rolling slightly so she was curled tighter and facing the couch, away from Draco.

Draco smirked. "Hermione, it's time to wake up."

She shook her head, grunting her annoyance again. "Sleepy," she whined.

Draco chuckled. "Come on, now... Alright, five more minutes."

He started at a knock on the door. Upon opening it, he found Harry, Ginny and Ron, who entered, heedless of Draco's urges to be quiet.

"We thought we could go to breakfast before meeting Dumbledore," Harry said. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend for everyone staying behind, so...why is Hermione still asleep?"

"Because she wanted five more minutes," Draco replied matter-of-factly.

Ginny rolled her eyes and shoved past him. "Please, Malfoy. You'll never get anywhere wtb her if you treat her like a flower. You have to be firm with her." She stood over Hermione's half-unconscious form and stared at her for several moments before she ripped a pillow from the couch and began beating her with it. "Wake! Up! Hermione!"

Hermione made an angry noise and pushed Ginny away. "Mm!" She exclaimed.

Ginny dropped the pillow, panting. "Darn, that usually works. Harry?"

Harry grinned, approached the couch, and threw Hermione up into his arms and over his shoulder. Just this seemed to grab her attention, so before Draco could see what he would have done, Hermione began screaming that she would get up and Harry set her down.

She groaned once on her feet and frowned, squinting her glare at all of them. Without saying anything, she stumbled sleepily to the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

"She'll be okay after she eats something," Harry said, sitting on the couch. "You should probably go and change so you're ready when she gets out."

Draco didn't say anything, just did what he was told and got dressed. He packed his trunk and brought it out to the group. Hermione was already there, curled up in a sleepy ball on the floor beside her trunk.

"Can we get food now?" she mumbled sleepily.

Draco couldn't help but smile at her. "Sure."

...

Harry had been right. As soon as Hermione had taken her first bite of breakfast, she was back to her usual self.

"So," Ginny said, leaning across the table. Hermione looked away from Draco, who had gone with Harry and Ron to pay for breakfast.

"What?"

"What happened after you two left last night?" Ginny asked, grinning. "Things were getting pretty steamy, from what I saw."

"What did you see?" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hermione, the entire seventh year saw you and Draco kiss, remember?" She rose her eyebrows. "Why, was there something else I might have accidentally saw?"

"No," Hermione said, but too fast.

Ginny's eyes lit up at the prospect of oncoming gossip.

"Nothing happened but another kiss..."

"A kiss!" Ginny exclaimed. "That's great! What happened after?"

Hermione sighed and looked over at Draco. "We told each other we liked each other, that's all."

"That's _all_?" Ginny nearly screeched. "Hermione, that's huge! And why didn't you ever _tell _me that you liked him? You never tell me anything anymore."

She started pouting, but Hermione rolled her eyes.

"So, are you two together, then?" Ginny asked. "Oh, what kind of a stupid question is that? Of course you are!"

Hermione shook her head. "Actually, we didn't talk about that. We haven't even gone on a date."

Ginny's eyebrows rose again. "What do you call last night."

"Well, that was never meant to be a date," Hermione defended. "Anyways, it'll be sorted out soon."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Ginny exploded.

Hermione laughed. "How can you be so jumpy about it? It's not like _he _kissed _you_."

Ginny made a face. "Of _course _he didn't! And I'd punch him in the face if he did. I'm just glad you're moving on from my stupid brother. He wasn't worth you being depressed like you were."

Hermione's face fell and she looked over to where the boys were all standing. She noticed how Harry and Draco conversed freely, but Ron seemed a little apart from them. She noticed how he looked up from his shoes to glare at them every once in a while.

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"What, don't tell me you still like him?" Ginny said, shocked. "Hermione, after what he did to you?"

"Oh, no!" Hermione exclaimed. "No, I don't ever want to go back to him. But...I don't know. I really thought he was the one. At the time, of course. Now I see my mistake..."

Ginny sighed. "Just be happy with what you've got, Hermione. I'm happy with Harry, and you deserve to be happy with Draco."

Hermione smiled. If only she could make Draco feel the same way.

...

They all arrived at the burrow at exactly 9:02. They were greeted warmly by the other Order members and given fresh Christmas cookies from Mrs. Weasley. They quickly went upstairs to unpack their things in their respective bedrooms and were downstairs just in time for the all-day Order meeting, which would mark the last Order meeting of the year. There would be no more gruelling meetings until _after _New Years Day.

The meeting was the longest any of them had sat through. That talked about Oliver Wood's kidnapping. It had happened when he was spying on a group of Death Eaters, and he had been leaving when they noticed him and took him prisoner. They spoke about how close the Auror's were to getting saving all of the kidnapped victims. Apparently, they had found them and were currently devising a plan. Some members were given missions, to be started the same day the next Order meeting would be held-after New Years.

They spoke of many other things, pausing at noon for a large lunch and a ten minute digestion break, and resumed at 1:30pm. They finally finished at 6, just in time for supper.

After eating, Hermione returned to her bedroom to stash away her notes in her backpack, glad she wouldn't be forced to pick up a quill to write for so long for two weeks. She flexed her fingers and took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of being able to un-clench her fingers and think her own thoughts, not having to process the thoughts of others so that she could condense them into her form of notes.

She was very full, and having done nothing but sit and eat all day, she searched out Draco.

She found him out in the back, peering over the balcony at the stars, no longer falling, shivering as he watched. When he heard her boots crunch in the snow, he turned around fast. She smiled.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

He smiled softly and laced his fingers with hers. "Sure."

...

They walked until nine. When they returned home, most of the house was asleep, except for Sirius, Remus, Ron and Harry, who had stayed awake just so they could act like protective father-figure's when they returned. Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at Draco before leaving the group of them, craving her bed.

Draco shuffled awkwardly. "Well, I'll just be going, then..."

"I don't think so," Sirius said, standing to block his exit.

Draco sighed. "I don't recall promising that I'd have her home by a certain time."

"It's common knowledge that you bring a girl back from her first date at nine o'clock sharp," Sirius said, grinning.

Draco chanced a quick glance at his watch before saying, "First of all, it's only 9:05, and second, this wasn't a date. It was a walk."

"I don't see a difference," Sirius said, shrugging. "Do you see a difference, Moony?"

"That depends," Remus replied. "Did you talk?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Then I don't see a difference, do you see a difference, Har-"

"Okay, I get it!" Draco exclaimed. "It was a date, then, alright? Does that make you happy? Can I please go to bed now?"

Sirius laughed. "Sure, sport. You go on to beddy-bye. And stay out of Hermione's room!"

Draco rolled his eyes and shoved passed Sirius and up the stairs to his shared bedroom. He rummaged through his trunk and found a pair of pajamas, changed as quickly as he could, and curled up beneath the blankets, eyes sliding closed as soon as his head hit the pillow.

...

I had planned on this being longer, but the more I wrote, the more I realised that this chapter would turn out to be 4,000 words before I was able to put that entire chapter-plot in, so I split it in half. I'll get right on the next chapter as soon as possible, then. I've kind of got a lot going on, so my updates are going to be a bit choppy, as per usual when school comes around, but bear with me, guys!

So, I hope to hear from you all! ^^


	21. Chapter 21

Hermione woke up in a cold sweat, one of her awful nightmares having just ended, leaving her lying awake and panting at only midnight. She needed a glass of milk. She needed fresh air. She needed Draco.

Sitting up, she searched out her dressing gown and wand in the darkness, slipped her feet into a pair of slippers, and slid out into the hallway. She tiptoed across the hall to Draco's room, and paused as she heard a soft sound coming from the other side of the door. It was a sound that she recognised. She quietly opened the door and found her way to Draco's bed, far on the other side, away from Harry and Ron's bed. Harry and Ron were still deeply asleep, but Draco, she found, was half-awake.

"Draco?" she whispered, kneeling by his head. From the small light seeping through the cracked curtains, Hermione could see his face. His grey eyes locked on hers, and she found that they were clouded by sleep, fear, and tears. "Oh, Draco..."

She swiped a few locks of hair away from his face, and his fingers encircled her wrist. She allowed him to hold her hand for a few moments before she stood. "Come on."

He stared at her for a second or two before he sat up and slid his feet into a pair of slippers and followed her down the stairs.

Hermione sat Draco at the kitchen table and went through the cupboards. After about five minutes, Hermione set a cup of hot chocolate and plate Christmas cookies in front of Draco. She smiled at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He sighed. "I think I have to. She won't...leave me alone." It seemed to pain him to say this.

Hermione's look was sympathetic. "Come on. We'll go into the living room and get comfortable."

He nodded and stood. Hermione took their cookies and hot chocolate and brought it to the living room, setting them on the table beside the couch. She started a fire and turned on the radio at a very soft level, so you couldn't even hear the words to the songs being played. She sat down beside Draco and pulled an afghan over the both of them.

Draco sighed again. "Alright. Are you ready to hear about Kourtney?"

Hermione nodded. She was so eager to hear about this she could have danced, but she was trying to be polite.

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning. It started the summer before you and Harry and Ron left, just before seventh year..."

...

I stared down at the girl tied up on my bed. Muggle. Blue eyes, blonde hair. About fifteen. Extremely short. Very unhappy with her current position. Mouth bound.

"Mother?"

A clatter. The sound of shoes on stairs. Shoes on carpet. Door opening.

"Yes, Draco?"

"What is that?"

"Well, that's a girl."

"I can see that. What is it doing here?"

"Don't call her an it, Draco...her name is Kourtney."

"Fine. What is _Kourtney _doing tied up on my bed?"

"It's the Dark Lord's assignment for you..."

I gulped. Why had no one told me? "What is my assignment, exactly?"

"Well, her parents were both Purebloods, and they used to be Death Eaters..."

"So?"

"They then broke away and adopted a muggle."

"Ah."

Narcissa nodded. "The Dark Lord got to them before the Ministry could. As their punishment, they are to be slaves of the Dark Lord."

"That doesn't really explain my assignment, mother..."

"You're assignment is to keep her hidden," Narcissa replied. "Keep her under control and alive. The parents' punishment is also that they had their precious daughter taken from them."

I rose my eyebrows. "So they want me to babysit her?" My eyes returned to the girl, still struggling with her magic, leather bindings.

"Guard her, yes," Narcissa replied. "And put her in her place. You are to watch over her for the rest of the summer, until the Dark Lord has decided what exactly it is that he wants done with her."

I wanted so badly to argue. But I knew that my mother could do nothing about it. If I had a problem with this, I'd have to take it up with the Dark Lord, and who was crazy enough to do that?

So I simply pinched the bridge of my nose and nodded. "Alright."

Narcissa left and I glared at the girl who, I didn't know now this, but would one day be the first girl I loved.

I knew something else. This was _my _assignment, which meant I had to keep it to myself. This girl couldn't leave my room without me. I groaned before I turned around and shut the door, quickly locking it with my wand. I crossed my arms as continued glaring as she struggled. I finally couldn't take it any more and with a flick of my wrist, her mouth tie was gone. I cast a quick silencing charm on my bedroom and took a seat in my desk chair.

"So," I said with an unamused smirk. "You're to be my prisoner until my master decides what is to be done with you. You'd better pray to Merlin that he decides to go easy on you. Or that you at least die before he makes up his mind."

Kourtney didn't say anything, just continued to struggle with her bindings.

I sighed and released them. She immediately stood and ran around my room like she was insane, crashing into the door and banging on the window. I rolled my eyes. "It's no use. You're not getting out of here unless I decide to let you out."

She made a sort of hissing sound towards me before she continued crazily banging on the door.

I sighed boredly and shot a spell at her, causing her to collapse. She blinked up at me as I approached and grabbed her surprisingly soft arm, roughly ripping her to her feet. I conjured a hammock and set her on that.

"Stay there," I said. "I'm going to supper. I'll have one of the elves bring you something later. But only if I don't hear a single sound come from this room."

And I left for supper.

...

Draco sighed. "I told her that every night for a week, and every night she continued to run around like a maniac, banging on the windows and doors while I ate. I always had water sent up, but never any food."

Hermione sat in thoughtful silence for a few moments. "How did she have the energy to fight so hard?"

Draco shrugged. "Why don't you tell me? You seemed to fight pretty had with Harry."

Hermione thought about that for a couple of seconds. "Yeah, I guess you're right... What happened next?"

Draco sighed for the umpteenth time. "Well, I came back from supper that night, and the room was completely silent, so I was going to check on her before I called for some leftovers to be brought up..."

...

I had gotten into the strange habit of knocking before entering my own bedroom. I knocked before simply walking right in, without even hesitating for an answer. It was unusual to find it quiet.

At first, I'd thought she'd succeeded in escaping. I looked all around my room, and was horrified to find the window completely smashed out of the pane. But then I saw her, curled up in a fetal position on the floor in a pile of glass. Her knuckles were bloody, and she stared up at me, unmoving, as I worriedly came forward and lifted her into my arms. I carried her limp form into the bathroom, where I set her on the counter and began washing and then bandaging her wounds.

She hadn't spoken a single word to me in that week. I took her into the bathroom four times a day. I didn't leave sharp objects in there, fearing she might try to kill herself instead of having to endure me as her master. Or maybe she'd remembered what I'd thoughtlessly said about her dying before the Dark Lord came for her. I didn't take any chances.

I hadn't thought about the window. I cursed myself internally, and made a mental note to place several security charms on the window after I fixed it.

As I finished tying the bandage around her fingers, I heard her gasp, and looked up to see her wince.

"Thank you," she whispered softly.

My eyes widened. The voice she used now was different from the one she used when she cried out in her sleep. It was much softer, much sweeter.

Which made me angry. I didn't want to think of her as anything other than a frightened muggle. Not a sweet, adorable girl.

"Don't do anything stupid like that ever again," I said, pulling her roughly off the counter. She winced again, and I felt a little guilty, but I pulled her across the hallway and back to the bedroom. When we were almost there, she tripped and fell into my back.

I rolled my eyes and lifted her up again, dropping her onto the hammock.

"Lassie!" I called. My personal house elf appeared in my room with a sudden "pop."

I didn't look away from the window I was currently repairing.

"Yes, sir, Lassie is here, Master Malfoy, sir," said the ugly little thing.

"Bring my prisoner a tray of leftovers," I said, performing every security charm I knew. The window glowed a brilliant gold before fading back to clear.

"Yes, Master Malfoy, sir," replied Lassie, leaving and returning almost before I'd even had the chance to take a seat on my bed.

"Here is prisoner Kourtney's supper," said Lassie, setting a tray onto my desk. "Is there anything else I can bring Master Malfoy?"

"No, leave me," I replied, closing my eyes and looking away. I was getting a headache from all of this nonsense.

"Eat," I said once Lassie had left.

With a short, "Thank you!" Kourtney took a seat on the floor, pulling the food into her lap and eating it hastily. There was barely anything there-the Death Eaters who stayed for dinner tended to eat a lot. A roll, a mostly empty bowl of stew, a few pieces of lettuce, a slice of cheese, and a glass of milk. She had it all down in less time than it took for me to tell her it was okay to eat. She all but licked the bowl empty. Finally, she stood up and looked around.

"Where should I put it?" she asked me hesitantly.

"Just leave it on the floor," I replied. "Lassie will be back in a few minutes. Why don't you go take a shower?"

Her eyes widened at the thought of leaving the room by herself.

"And don't even think about trying to run," I said. "This house is filled with Death Eaters and guarded by people who want to kill you."

She seemed frozen by fear. "Please..." she whispered. "Could you come with me? Like you usually do?"

I groaned. "Why?"

"I'm afraid," she said, even softer than before.

I sighed before standing. "Fine," I said. "I'll send for my mother to find you some new clothes, since these ones are starting to stink. Come on, then. We haven't got all day."

She nodded and turned. And just like I would for several months, I followed her into the bathroom and sat behind a counter as she took her shower, restricted to five minutes.

But this time, I thought about what had happened. And with those thoughts, I realised something.

The blood that I had seen covering her hands was no different from the blood that had flowed from my wrist as I was forever marked and bound to the Dark Lord.

...

Hello, dear readers! My best friend had homework, and so I wrote a new chapter during the time I normally would have spent with her. ^^ I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave me your thoughts, I enjoy hearing them!

I don't plan on having Kourtney here for very long. I'll finish up her story next chapter. She's not really a huge character. But the point of the story is Hermione healing Draco, so I decided that having her in here might make the story more interesting.

Well, bye now! I'll have something for you guys soon!


	22. Chapter 22

Hello! I wanted to get this over with early so we can get back to the Dramione. I had most of this finished last night, touched it up in study hall, and here it is! A new chapter, just for you! ^^ I hope you enjoy it!

...

Draco started up his story once again after we ate our cookies and finished out hot chocolate. He needed a break, some time to reorganise his thoughts and get his emotions under control. It was so strange for Hermione to see him show any sort of emotion, when just a few months ago, they'd been the best of enemies.

...

I knew from the very beginning that I would be a horrible guard over this girl. I'd never been able to keep up any sort of hostility towards girls. It just didn't work. Try as I may, there were only a select few girls that I could ignore when they were upset. It killed me. It was a weakness, and Malfoy's didn't have weaknesses. I should have been able to kick down a crying girl and laugh in her face, but it never really worked that way.

And because Kourtney made a habit of crying in her sleep every night, it wasn't too long before I started asking her what was the matter. It was a pretty stupid question-she'd lost her parents and was being kept hidden from them, a hostage under a Death Eater, someone who had starved her for an entire week.

It was nightmares. I tried to help her through them, mostly to ease my guilt a little bit and to save myself from sleep deprivation at having to wake up every time she let out a scream. But because I couldn't get over my own, it was a trouble.

Soon, I found myself discussing my own nightmares with Kourtney. She had very interesting perspectives on dreams, and on life in general, I soon realised. I enjoyed talking to her.

You already know what happens here, Hermione. I fell in love with her. Don't give me that look, even heartless idiots can fall in love. It just takes the right person to make you realise that you can feel love like that.

Anyways, it took me a month to realise it, another month to accept it, and a half a month to enjoy it. And then, it happened.

I returned to my bedroom after a day of sitting with my father and mother, just waiting so we could be ready for when the Dark Lord needed us. I usually read, or studied, or did something productive, but today, all I could do was sit anxiously and wait for this moment to be over so I could return to my bedroom and spend the rest of the evening with Kourtney.

Today, my parents seemed unusually tense. My mother kept looking at me out of the corner of her eye, and my father kept clenching his fingers around his quill, much harder than he usually did. He didn't even yell at me to stop fidgeting or to study or do something useful. I guess I didn't really notice anything was off until much, much later, since at the time, the only thing on my mind was Kourtney. I had taken to reading to her every night. She really enjoyed learning wizard history, as she knew a large portion of muggle history nearly by heart.

Finally, the clock struck seven, and I was allowed to return to my bedroom to check on Kourtney for the few short moments before supper began.

"Draco?" my mother said as I was about to leave.

"Yes?" I replied, trying not to show my impatience.

"Er..." her eyes shifted around the room. "Never-mind. I just wanted to let you know that...the house elves made your favourite tonight...so don't be too long."

"Sure," I replied, surprised when I'd realised my mistake (I was to reply with "Yes, ma'am") and my father hadn't. I shook my head and closed the door behind me.

As soon as that door was closed, I ran like lightening up the stairs. I ripped open my door, expecting to find Kourtney in her usual position, curled up on the floor, reading whatever I had left for her that morning before breakfast, only to find that I was alone. Confused, I searched all over. I looked under the bed, in my closet, everywhere. Even though I knew she wouldn't try to escape, I checked all of my charms, and they were still strongly in place.

More flustered than ever, I began to frantically search everywhere possible, searching from the very top of the house, all of the way to the basement.

When the entire house had been scoured, I went outside. And there she was, tied up and surrounded by several Death Eaters, all of whom were throwing rude taunts in her direction.

A muffled cry came from her bound mouth at the sight of me.

"Ah...the young Master Malfoy has found us at last..."

My body froze, but my eyes found Voldemort, walking towards me from the other side of the yard, where he had presumably been waiting for me to find him. "What is going on, my Lord?" I whispered. I cleared my voice and repeated myself.

"It appears that our hostage has become far too comfortable with her prison," he said, as if he were discussing the new shade of wallpaper he had just finished hanging. "I am having her exiled on a cannibalistic island instead. Her parents are of no further use to me, and therefore, neither is she."

"No!"

His cold eyes fell on mine, but at the moment, all I could see were the fearful eyes of Kourtney. No, he couldn't kill her. His life wouldn't be so cruel to him as to take away the first thing that had made him happy in he didn't know HOW long. This couldn't be happening.

"Excuse me?" the Dark Lord said coldly, calmly. But his eyes were like icy fire.

"I-I...I said 'no,' my Lord," I said, not looking at him, but too prideful to look down in shame. I looked at Kourtney, who looked absolutely terrified. "I can still keep her as a prisoner. There is no need for exiling her... For killing her..."

"Oh, but there is," he replied, forcing himself into my vision. He had on a malicious grin. "Now there is."

I swallowed hard.

"As punishment for defying me, you have sentenced your..." he sneered, "girlfriend...as you may call her...to death. And you will watch. I will make sure of it."

...

Draco jolted forward, clenching his stomach, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him. "Draco, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked you to talk about it! Here, let me take you back up to bed..."

He took several deep breaths, violently shaking his head as he tried to push his tears back inside of him. "No..." he whispered. "I need to tell you. I need to."

Hermione paused uncertainly for a second, but nodded. "Alright. If you really need to, Draco, then I'll listen."

He took a few deep breaths. After what felt like forever, he nodded. He began.

...

The Dark Lord had allowed me one more night with her. I think he was just trying to add to the torture, giving me one night that I wouldn't be able to enjoy, not when I knew what was coming the next day.

I sat on my bed with Kourtney in my arms, sitting in my lap. She seemed calm enough, but I could hardly control myself. My breathing was completely out of control as I tried to hold in tears. I didn't cry back then.

Kourtney pulled back and touched my face. She smiled. She wasn't crying.

_She kissed me/_

She told me she loved me.

I told her I loved her.

_I kissed her._

It hurt.

She told me she thought that I could be a better person.

She told me that she knew everything I'd told her about wanting to break free from my father and Voldemort's beliefs could happen.

She told me she believed in me.

She told me she loved me.

Those were the last words she said to me.

And then the Dark Lord killed her.

And I was there to watch her execution.

And it was all my fault.

And I'll never, ever forgive myself.

...

Strangely, Draco's almost-tears had ended by now. It seemed he had cried himself out in the past few weeks, and Hermione was glad. It was odd to see such a strong person cry. Now she knew what Pansy and Blaise and Theo and the others had meant when they told her that he needed help. He needed to get over Kourtney, and that wouldn't be easy, not when all of this had happened. Sure, he'd only been in love with her for two months, but to have set her execution? The guilt itself would have rendered Hermione useless, and she knew it.

But she renewed her pledge right then. She _would _help him through this.

Because if she didn't, no one else would.

And because if he couldn't get over this, then she would never have the chance to explore these feelings inside of her, these feelings she was developing for Draco, and stronger than anything she had ever felt for Ron.


	23. Chapter 23

Thank you leafysummers for giving me my 200th review! And the four after it! ^^

This chapter is dedicated to leafysummers for being an amazing person.

...

Hermione took Draco back up to his bed. They couldn't very well sleep down in the living room, for the other Order members would find them and tease them to no end. Harry and Ron wouldn't have been happy if they woke up to find the girl that was practically their sister in the bed of their ex-enemy, and Ginny would sense through her sleep that they were in bed together and automatically wake up, and they would have absolutely no privacy.

So, they dealt with what they were given. Hermione hesitated only a moment before she leaned down and kissed Draco as quickly as possible before telling him to have good dreams and to sleep well. She then left and climbed into her bed, thinking about everything that had been spoken of that night.

...

Hermione was rudely awakened at around three in the morning to a loud bang on her door. She sat up slowly, looking around. Everyone knew she wasn't a morning person, and that they would face her wrath if she were woken anytime after midnight and before five-thirty, which was early enough as it was, but a necessary time if she wanted to make it to class on time and still have time for breakfast.

All of the lights were on.

"Emergency meeting," Remus said, peeking his head in the door before going on to wake everyone else.

Hermione glanced over at Ginny, who was in the process of sitting up. Ginny slept on her stomach. She pushed herself up, and her head lolled forward, draping her hair on the sides of her face.

Hermione moaned and shoved her feet back into her slippers, walking in a wobbly line towards the door. She felt Ginny steer her away from the doorframe and out into the hallway.

"Come on, now, sleepy-head," Ginny said as if Hermione were four. "Time to go to the meeting..."

"Mmm..." Hermione whined.

"I know..."

"I can take it from here."

Hermione felt Ginny's hand leave her arm, soon replaced by the warm hand of Draco. She turned her head sleepily around, and Draco smiled at her. She smiled groggily back and looked forward as Draco helped her down the stairs and into a chair. He sat next to her.

If Hermione was more conscious at the moment, she would have noticed his eyes were still a little red from crying.

"Everyone," Remus said, standing at the head of the table in a pair of sweats, his hair completely unruly. "I've got a bit of good news, and we've got someone else to tell the bad news."

He nodded towards the door, and Sirius (with no pants on, as was per usual) led in a very familiar face.

"Oliver!" Hermione exclaimed, perking up a little. Oliver Wood had become quite good friends with everyone since he'd become an Order member.

He grinned lopsidedly and very tiredly at her. "Hey, 'Mione. Hey everyone else."

He nodded pointedly at Draco, who nodded sharply back.

"I'm afraid me coming back is all the good news your going to get," Oliver said, limping as Sirius helped him into Sirius's own chair beside Remus. Sirius stood behind him with his arms crossed. "I've got some pretty bad news. Hermione?"

She blinked sleepily at him, and his lopsided grin returned, except for this time, it was more sympathetic than anything.

"I'm sorry, but they've decided to target you, Hermione."

She faltered, but she was still too groggy to comprehend very much.

"What?" Draco said, scarily quiet.

All eyes were on him, but his eyes were on Oliver. Oliver's sympathetic gaze turned to Draco. He nodded. "I heard it straight from Bellatrix's mouth. They're going after her. They want her information, they want her as a hostage, and they were even deliberating on whether or not they want to have some of the new Death Eaters train with her."

Hermione yawned. "That's not good..." she mumbled, curling up in her chair and leaning back against Draco, who unconsciously wrapped his arms around her. "We'll have to...have to...stop them..."

"What are we going to do?" Draco demanded as Hermione's eyes slipped shut, the same time as Harry said, "I'll kill them!" and Ron suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Mr. Malfoy, I believe I have found your first mission," Sirius said with a twinkle in his eye.

Draco was a bit hesitant. "What is it?"

"Your job is to protect Hermione from any harm that might come her way," Remus declared. "Try not to leave her side for too long."

Draco nodded sharply.

Now, if the reader remembers, Hermione has quite a similar mission. I do believe our friends Sirius and Remus are matchmaking geniuses.

After a little more debating, (most of the negative arguments came from Ron, who had wanted the job Draco received) Draco helped Hermione walk back up to bed. Just doing his job, he magicked a trundle bed and set up camp right beside her.

At some point during the night, Hermione began talking in her sleep. Propping himself up on one elbow, he saw that her sleep was disturbed-her eyebrows were narrowed and she was splayed all about the bed, tossing and turning as if trying to escape something. Draco reached out towards her, and just before his fingertips brushed her face, she gasped so hard it sounded as if she'd sucked her lungs to her feet, and she gripped his wrist painfully hard.

She panted for a few moments more, staring directly into Draco's startled eyes, before she rolled off of her bed and onto his. Draco smiled lightly and lifted the blanket, pulling her close to him beneath it.

After the nights conversation, Draco felt much closer to Hermione, so much more so that this didn't seem at all odd. He pulled her tightly against him, and she curled up in his arms without speaking a word. She didn't seem able to, still too tired. Draco sighed contentedly before slipping off into a comfortable sleep, devoid of any haunting dreams of Kourtney. He figured she was gone now. In just the way that he was sure Kourtney would have wanted for him.

...

It's very, very short. I know. But the next chapter is going to be basically pure fluff (except for maybe the end, which, anyone who's read any of my other stories knows I don't always have good things happen to characters, but it always eventually turns out good) and I wanted it to be all in that chapter. It should be a pretty long one.

Anyways, I gotta go to sleep. Gotta perform a play in psychology tomorrow! In front of 130 students! (Dear Mr. Dubbs, my amazing but apparently very confused psych teacher, if I had wanted to be in a play, I would have freaking signed up for drama. I signed up for Psychology to figure out why I have nightmares!

Sincerely, a very angry girl who believes in aliens and loves lavender).


	24. Chapter 24

Hermione awoke the next morning, Christmas Eve, well rested and in the arms of Draco Malfoy. When she'd first received her mission from Blaise, Pansy, and Theo to help him get through everything, she never would have thought that she could manage that. It hadn't even crossed her mind that she might actually begin to fall for him.

He was already awake. He smiled softly at her. It came to her that she hadn't seen him truly smile, ever. She would have to fix that.

"Merry Christmas Eve," he said softly, stroking her hair back from her face.

She smiled. "You too."

He slowly sat up, making sure Ginny Weasley was still asleep before he continued. "Did you have any plans for today?"

She shrugged, pulling the blanket tight around her, her eyes still half-closed. It was only eight, after all. "I don't think so..."

"Would you like to do something with me?" he asked, unsure about why his heart rate was gradually speeding up.

Her eyes slid closed even further and she yawned, unconsciously rolling over. "Sure... I'd like that..."

Draco grinned widely, but she had already slipped off to sleep again, unable to catch it.

...

A few hours later, the two of them were showered and dressed warmly, ready for their date. Just as the two were about to leave, Sirius stopped Draco with a hand on his shoulder. "I'd like to have a word with you before you leave, boy."

Recalling the last time he'd had a conversation with Sirius Black, he swallowed hard.

But he felt Hermione's hand on his give a light squeeze, giving him courage. Her smile made his knees shake. "I'll be waiting here, then."

He nodded and followed Sirius back into his office.

"Have a seat," Sirius said as Draco took in the oncoming storm. In the room stood Harry, Ron, Remus, and now he and Sirius.

"I'd rather not," Draco replied, clasping his hands behind his back.

Sirius shrugged. Draco noted he locked the door. "Suit yourself."

He moved to stand next to the others in the room.

They stood in silence for a few moments.

"So," Sirius said. He seemed to be the leader. "Tell us about yourself, Draco."

Draco quirked an eyebrow.

"Go on," Harry added. "Tell us why you think you're worthy of dating our Hermione."

Oh, Merlin. Another interrogation. Draco thought hard, trying to come up with a suitable answer, before deciding on the truth, which he'd been doing a lot lately.

"Well, I don't think I'm worthy," Draco said, exaggerating his humility. Maybe they'd fall for it. "She's amazing. Pretty, funny, smart. And I'm just the ex-death eater who fell in love with her."

"You're doing a terrible job of selling yourself," Remus said as Sirius crossed his arms.

Draco shrugged. "I guess."

Sirius snorted. "You're so full of bullcrap, Draco." He shook his head. "Go on. Date her. You are her protector, after all. And what time will she be home by?"

"Before supper or 8:30," Draco said, itching to leave.

"And what will you NOT do?"

That could have been anything.

"Rape her," Draco said, throwing open the door.

Harry burst into uproarious laughter as Sirius's eyes widened and he slowly started to bark his laughter as well. Ron's jaw dropped in anger, and Remus grinned. Draco ran out after Sirius unlocked the door, despite Remus's calls of "Mr. Malfoy!"

Draco grabbed Hermione's hand, laughing. Hermione's stomach filled with butterflies at the sight of seeing him so happy, and she followed him as he rushed her swiftly out the door.

...

Draco had the entire day completely planned out. While it was Christmas Eve and many places were closed for the holidays, there were certain places they could go to enjoy their date. The first place they went to was a Church, where they watched a Christmas pageant put on by the teenagers of a local school. As they were walking away, Hermione explained to Draco the Christmas story, and that she had once participated in a pageant.

Afterwards, they ate at a hidden soup kitchen, set up for those who'd lost their home and family because of the ongoing wizarding war. They hadn't planned on eating there, really, but Hermione saw the sign and insisted on helping out.

And after that, they went on a walk through the snow, through the park.

"Draco, look," Hermione said, turning off the path.

"What is it?" he said, scanning the ground. "It looks like someone fell over..."

"They're snow angels!" Hermione exclaimed. "You've never made a snow angel?"

"What on Earth is a snow angel?" he said blandly.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "A snow angel! You know, you do laying-down jumping jacks and it looks like angel's wings!"

"That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of."

Hermione shook her head. "It's a part of childhood, it's supposed to sound ridiculous. Here, I'll show you."

Hermione sat down in the snow, letting go of Draco's hand. She laid back down and began spreading her arms over her head, then back towards herself.

Draco rose an eyebrow. "You're going to get all wet."

"It doesn't matter!" she said, continuing her work. "It's fun!"

"I don't see how this could possibly be fun."

"Just hold on," she said, laughing as she rolled her eyes.

After a few more seconds of looking like she was having a seizure, at least in Draco's opinion, Hermione held out her hands, and Draco pulled her to her feet. She gingerly stepped out of the indentation she'd made on the ground and turned.

"Ta-dah!" She exclaimed.

Draco was brushing all of the snow off of her. "Now you're going to get sick..."

"Draco!" she exclaimed. "Look, though!"

Draco's gaze dropped to where she was pointing. It looked like a dog had rolled in the snow, but she seemed excited about it, so he said, "It's wonderful. It looks just like an angel."

She grinned. "Now you should make one, so mine won't be lonely."

Draco shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. Look, there're snow hurricanes-"

"Angels-"

"-angels all over the place. I'm sure your's will be just fine."

Hermione shook her head indignantly. "But she doesn't know any of the other ones. Please?"

Draco sighed and got down on the ground next to Hermione's snow creature and imitated what Hermione had done. She laughed and jumped up and down.

After a few seconds, he pulled himself up from the ground, accidentally smudging his "angel," but Hermione thought it was beautiful anyways.

She kissed his cheek. "Your first snow angel. This is a big event."

Draco snorted and patted her head. "Whatever you say, Hermione. Whatever you say."

...

It was about a half an hour later, and Draco and Hermione were headed towards Number 12, neither wanting their date to end.

"Hermione?" Draco said, turning to her and stopping them both just a few feet away from the door.

"Yeah?"

"I want to give you your present now..." before I change my mind.

"Sure, okay," she said, smiling. "What is it?"

He took out the sloppily wrapped package, wrapped in paper that shrunk the actual gift so it could fit in his pocket, and handed it to her. She quickly unwrapped it and handed him the paper, which he shoved into his pocket.

"Wow!" Hermione exclaimed. "The newest edition of Hogwarts: A History with a Foreword by Dumbledore! Thanks so much!"

Draco shrugged, knowing the actual present was inside. "It's not so great... I just knew you read it a lot, and your copy was getting a little tattered..."

She shook her head. "No, I love it. Thank you, Draco."

She shuffled awkwardly. "I-er-I got you a present as well."

She handed him a small box, very neatly wrapped. He unwrapped it and pulled out...

A pair of gloves.

She blushed. "I'm sorry! And they're not even good ones, because I made them myself!"

Draco shook his head and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry about it. I love them."

She sighed. "Thanks." She hesitated. "But... I feel a little bad. So..."

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. She pulled back, a little embarrassed, and then took his hand before they walked into the house for Christmas Eve supper with the Order.

...

They're both a little out of character in this chapter, but it's fluff and that's just how it goes.


	25. Chapter 25

The rest of the holiday went very well. Draco had his first Christmas supper spent with people he actually wanted to be around. He even received his very own sweater from Mrs. Weasley, and Sirius gave him a "Get away from a talking-to free card," to use whenever Sirius wanted to have a conversation with him about Hermione. His only exceptions were if the conversations were about the Order and/or sex.

Another first was for Hermione. She had someone to kiss on New Years as the clock struck midnight, beginning the start of a new, war-torn year. It was only a small peck, but still.

They were among the first to arrive back at Hogwarts, the others being the rest of Dumbledore's Army.

"Hello, everyone," Harry said at the start of their New Years meeting. "I trust you all had a nice holiday. We've got a bit of news for you all."

He looked to Hermione, who had her notes in her hands.

"Remember, I'm not telling you everything," she said sternly. "I don't care that you want to know, all I care about is what's confidential."

Draco sat awkwardly in the back, not entirely enjoying himself. He was receiving the evilest of glares, and he knew that more than one person was whispering about him. He pretended as if he didn't notice.

"And finally, Draco Malfoy, newest Order member, has received his first mission."

A few jaws dropped.

"Has the Order lost their mind?" Draco heard from one of the boys in the back.

"They must have!"

"Shush! She's about to say what it is!"

"Ahem!" Hermione cleared her throat loudly. "Anyways, as I said, Oliver Wood escaped Malfoy Manor with naught but a few scratches and a sprained ankle. He brought back news that I am next on the hit list. Draco's newest mission is to guard the school against anyone that may come, and to be my body guard." Then she said, under her breath, though everyone could hear her, "Like I really need one."

"Why would they put a Death Eater in charge of keeping out Death Eaters?" someone said in an obnoxiously loud whisper.

Hermione fixed an icy glare on the offending DA member. "No one in this army is a Death Eater, do you hear me? Draco Malfoy is an amazing man, and it's because of him that half of your parents have been rescued over the holiday."

A few heads looked down at their laps in shame.

"And, because he has been honoured with the title of Order Member," Harry added, "he is now an official leader of the DA. Draco, will you come up here, please?"

He wanted to say no, but he wanted even more to rub this in the faces of anyone who doubted him. So, suppressing the largest smirk he'd ever felt, he marched proudly to the front of the room and took his spot right next to Hermione, slightly behind her. He nodded at them soberly.

"Now," Hermione said, smiling in hopes of lightening the mood. "Any questions?"

A hand shot into the air.

"Yes, Hannah?" Harry said, pointing to her.

"My question is for Ron?" the girl said.

Ron perked to attention and shoved his hands into his pockets as he nodded. "Eh?"

"Is it true you dumped Lavender?"

He flushed a bright crimson as all eyes fell on him. The most shocked eyes of all were those of Hermione. Her jaw had even dropped.

"That..." he cleared his throat. "Er, that has nothing to do with anything. Any questions for Hermione? She's got the notes..."

A new hand went up, this the hand of Parvati Patil.

Hermione nodded. "Are you and Malfoy dating?"

"What kind of questions are these, people?" Hermione exclaimed. "Since when have DA meetings become gossip circles?"

"So is it true?"

Hermione blushed. "Fine, yes, it's true. I think. Now, get into your sparring circles, please."

Hermione turned around, planting a hand on her forehead as she set her notebook on a desk.

She felt strong arms slip around her waist, and almost instantly some of her stress eased away.

"You think?"

Hermione's brow wrinkled. "Huh?"

"Before," Draco explained. "You said that you only think we're dating."

"Oh," Hermione replied. She shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I'm just not positive. We've never actually talked about it before..."

"Would someone not your boyfriend do this?"

Hermione gasped as she felt his warm, soft lips graze her neck, the chilled air of the room of requirement causing the area he'd touch to tingle.

"I guess not," she managed.

He chuckled.

"Hermione! Malfoy!"

Hermione jumped and would have fallen over, if not for Draco refusing to release her waist.

It was Harry. He was smirking at them. "Get to practising."

Hermione rolled her eyes and moved away from Draco, her hand slowly sliding out of his as she headed towards some of the first years who seemed to be having a bit of difficulties.

Draco was unsure of what to do. He was about to head over to a first year whose form was dangerously close to decapitating one of his friends, when his name was called. He motioned for Harry to help the kid and turned. He found Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas standing behind him.

"Er...hello?" Draco said, not happy with the way he sounded so unsure.

"Hello, mate," Seamus said, grinning from ear to ear. "We hear you're dating our close friend, Hermione."

"I know," Draco replied. "I was there."

"We just wanted to warn you of something," Dean said.

Draco raised his eyebrows and tried hard not to sneer. "That being...?"

"If anything happens to Hermione, either from being your girlfriend or from your lack of keeping her safe from the Death Eaters," Seamus answered, "you're going to be in the market for a new face."

"Uh...huh..." Draco said slowly. "Well, you've got nothing to worry about. I don't plan on letting her get hurt. The only reason Hermione would be hurt is if I were hurt first."

Dean crossed his arms. "You see to it that it stays that way."

Draco sighed. "Get back to practising."

They left him then, and Draco began helping those in need of it. They were shocked at his skill, but Draco only rolled his eyes. They didn't let just anybody be a Death Eater. But, then again, not every Death Eater could leave.

...

Hello! ^^ I finished this during study hall today. I feel kind of bad because this one is short and not one of my better chapters, and it's been so long...

Anyways, I hope that I can get these posted more often and with better chapters.

Please leave a review on what you think! ^^


	26. Chapter 26

For DracoLurver-MrsFelton, who I've been messaging ALL DAY and who is one of the coolest people I've met on this site. ^^

Hope you guys enjoy!

...

The thought brought on a whole other epiphany of thoughts. They hadn't wanted him as a Death Eater after a while. He'd been a disappointment. And they were desperate for members. They had hardly even contemplated it before they had him cut off from them, enemy number one.

Was he good enough for the good side?

"Harry?"

Harry turned away from the first year he was helping out and nodded at Draco. "Yeah, mate?"

"Do you mind if I leave early? I'm not feeling very well."

Harry nodded, then smirked. "It's probably that cold, finally catching up with you from your snow angel adventure."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Harry nodded once more before returning to the first year.

"Hermione?"

She looked up from the notes she was condensing. "Yes?"

He kissed her forehead. "I'm tired. I think I need to go lie down."

Her eyebrows wrinkled. "Would you like me to come with you? Do you need to go to the hospital wing? Are you going to be okay? What's the matter?"

Draco shook his head, smiling lightly. "I'll be alright, doll. Just need to go take a little rest. See you after the meeting?"

She nodded, a confused look still plastered across her face as Draco kissed her forehead once again before leaving.

He sighed once he'd left the room of requirement, wandering the long way back to the dorm.

He certainly didn't feel worthy to be in the DA. All he could think about while he was around all of those loyal to the good side members was that he hadn't been loyal, that he'd chosen the losing side, and even they hadn't wanted him. Not every Death Eater could leave, because they didn't want to lose any members. But he had been able to leave.

Why? Why was that? Was it because he was a failure, or because he was destined for something better?

Someone had once told him that everything that happened in life was working it's way towards the greater good. That is, even if something bad happens, it will eventually lead to something good happening, whether it be to yourself or to someone else. Maybe somebody you don't even know.

He didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, though, that he had left. He figured good. He listed the reasons: he had joined the _good _side; he now had Hermione; he _normally _felt good doing the things he was supposed to do in relation to the Order; he felt like he had a family now. There really weren't any good things about being a Death Eater. The only thing he could come up with was being with his mother, but he was disowned. He had no mother anymore.

He wondered if she still thought of him. He hoped so. He missed her. His awful father didn't deserve her.

He sighed when he reached the room and sluggishly slid through the door, dropping his backpack on the back of the sofa as he trudged across the room to his bedroom. He fell on his bed face-first, not even bothering to undress.

He soon found that he hadn't simply been making up excuses to get out of the meeting-he was exhausted. Within minutes, Draco had fallen deeply asleep.

...

Draco was very aggravated. He was so confused. He hated confusion, but it was basically his only emotion at the time.

He was back in the manor, just outside the parlour, waiting for his parents to allow him to enter. For the time being, he was practising his bowing for when someone very important came, but he had absolutely no idea why, or who was coming.

Finally, he had this certain feeling that it was time to enter the room. So he did, but what he found was not his parlour. What he found was simply darkness. As he stepped inside this darkness, he had sudden feelings of fear, as if there was something that he couldn't see there, watching him with malicious intent, washing over him. It horrified him to no end, and he wanted to leave. He tried turning to go back out the door, but-it was so frustrating!-he was moving so slowly! And once he had finally turned far enough to allow him to go towards the door, he found his feet were glued to the floor. He was suddenly facing the correct direction. He opened his mouth to call out, to find who was watching him, but no sound came out, and he was suddenly falling! Falling, falling, and around him were stars and the darkness and the hidden, watching eyes.

Suddenly, he saw a face. It was a face he knew, the face of his previous Dark Master, the dead Dark Lord Voldemort, circling above him. His full body came into view and he was grinning his crooked-toothed grin, his pale skin nearly sparkling in the light from the stars. And Draco felt so cold as he watched while his father took the place of the Dark Lord, and as his mother appeared, then Sirius Black and Harry and then as Hermione appeared. They were all talking at once, all encouraging him in a different direction. They all wanted something from him, they all needed him for some purpose, and then they all disappeared, all except Hermione, but he was still falling. He was about to come in contact with the ground, and-

Draco flailed in his bed, feeling as if he had just landed from his long, dream-plummet. He gasped so deeply he felt as if he'd accidentally swallowed his lungs, and he looked around the whole room. Finding himself alone, he checked his watch, which told him that it was only four o'clock in the morning.

He dropped back onto his back, wondering about the dream. He hated dreams like that, dreams in which he felt so dangerously stuck, where he could do nothing, even though those around him all needed something from him.

Muggle's had hundreds of thousands of theories on dream psychology. They believed that dreams held true meaning to your fears and your desires, to certain elements of your life. At that moment, Draco was inclined to believe that this may have been the truth.

Still having these strange feelings of fear, sprouting from he knew not where, he thought he would keel over dead when his door creaked open, and in walked his girlfriend, wearing a nightgown with a cow pattern on it. Her hair was a mess, which indicated she must have been asleep just a few moments ago, and her eyes were blurry, which confirmed his indications.

"Hermione?" he whispered, gesturing for her to come in. He shifted on the bed so she could settle next to him. He inhaled lightly and caught that familiar scent of Hermione and English Lavender. "What's going on, Hermione?"

"I heard you tossing and turning," Hermione replied groggily. "You were making sounds like you were afraid, and then I heard your gasp. I thought you might have been hurt, or your sick was getting worse."

Draco smiled, glad that she cared. He shook his head. "I'm fine. Just a nightmare is all."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Absolutely not. Not until he worked out the meaning for himself he wouldn't. He didn't want her to know that she was a part of the horror in his dreams. He knew she took dreams very seriously, after having been through so much with Potter and his visions through dreams. She'd learned to take dreams as they were.

Draco eventually shook his head. "No, it's alright. It was just one of those annoying dreams where you can't move or talk. One of those falling dreams."

"Hm, let's see..." Hermione said, yawning. "Falling dreams have to do with feelings of being overwhelmed, with have insecurities or being unsure of something. Dreams where you can't move are all about either sleep paralysis, which is an entirely different concept, or that you're too close to waking up to be able to think about moving in your sleep. And dreams where you can't talk have to do with the fact that there is something you are unable to communicate to others in your real life."

Draco hadn't asked for an explanation, and he wasn't going to ask for a new one about how she knew all of this craziness, but he knew one thing was for sure-every last bit of what she'd said was true. It all made sense. He hated when dreams brought the answer. It was so cliché.

"I don't think I'm worthy enough for the Order."

"Hm?"

"That's right," Draco repeated, feeling a little ashamed of himself for saying it. "I don't feel like I'm entirely worthy to be a part of something so great."

Hermione turned her sleepy eyes towards Draco and placed a surprisingly firm hand on his face. "I don't want to hear those words come out of your mouth ever again."

"But I-"

"No!" She cried, her voice cracking through the lethargy that had been previously coating her tone. "You _are _worthy! Do you want to know why? Because you _left_, Draco! Haven't you noticed that only one man has ever done that before, and he was the most noble of any man, ever? And now he's an Order member! Draco, you're perfectly worthy to be in the Order! Ex Death Eater or no, the Order wouldn't be the Order without you anymore. We all trust in you completely. I trust in you completely. Why do you think you're my body guard? And Draco? You're worthy because I know you would never let anything happen to me."

Draco sighed and looked down at his comforter. "But my own _father_-"

"That doesn't matter," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Because he was on the wrong side. But now, you're on the right side, and you're just as worthy as anyone to be here. If you've got the guts to change sides, to even be so bold as to say you're on the side of the good, then you've got the worth to be there."

Draco sighed. He'd really have to mull over what she'd said before he decided if she was correct, but he decided that her sleepy speech was enough for now, and he didn't want her tired in the morning, so he kissed her forehead, still playing up the "sick" role, and he said, "Thank you, Hermione. I feel so much...calmer now."

She smiled and sleepily got to her feet. "Well...I'm glad. Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

As soon as he'd heard the door across the common room close, he pulled off his shoes and his robes and flopped back down, trying to decide whether or not he believed what that genius had just said.

...

Did you enjoy? Drop me a review if you did. ^^ I enjoy them ever so much.


	27. Chapter 27

Hi! ^^

...

The meetings started happening more and more often. Now that the Order knew where the Death Eater's were keeping those who had been kidnapped, more and more information was coming in with every new rescued person. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending how you looked at it, the information was all on the attack on Hermione. Sadly, they were still intent on her and only her. But with the new information, there were better chances of protecting her and preventing the Death Eaters from catching her.

Draco was extremely protective over her, going as far as walking her to her classes and putting protective charms on her bedroom and windows every night, waking up extra early just so he could let her out.

The reader might remember how Draco missed his mother. This is a very important factor.

It was the day before the next Order meeting when Draco received a letter upon taking his seat at the table. He had began to hungrily eat his breakfast, wanting to finish early so he and Hermione could have some privacy before class started. The letter descended unexpectedly, landing right beside his plate.

Unsure of who he'd receive a letter from, since he received all of his Order letters in his room, he picked up the letter with caution.

He looked around. None of his friends were here yet, and everyone else avoided him like the plague. He turned it over-no name.

Deciding to just do it, he opened the letter and went directly to the bottom.

"Your ever loving mum."

His eyes teared up. It was embarrassing. He stood, then, put his backpack on, and approached Hermione, who was seated with Harry, eating and chatting happily with those around her.

"Hermione?"

She turned around. "Hi, honey. What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost."

He nodded. "I'm not feeling very well. I'm going to go stop in the Hospital Wing before class, alright?"

She nodded, looking up at him worriedly. "Would you like me to come with you?"

He shook his head. "No, you go on. I'll see you in class, okay?"

She nodded again and smiled. He kissed her forehead and left.

He didn't go to the hospital wing, even though after seeing the letter was from his mother, he felt like he could be sick. He went to the bathroom and promptly locked himself in a stall. Then, he read:

_My dear Draco,_

_I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write to you, but it is quite a bit of trouble to find parchment, a quill and ink, and an intelligent owl when you're living out on the streets._

_Draco, I want you to know that I had no part in having you disowned. In fact, it is for that reason that I finally left your father. I couldn't stand to be associated with him any longer, and I don't care at all about the shame I have brought on both the houses of Black and Malfoy. It does not matter to me in the least._

_I have read in the papers that you are now fighting with the Order. I am incredibly proud of you, Draco. Incredibly proud. I should have broken away years ago. I'm just glad you got the chance before your youth had been completely burned out. Now you can live your life the way you wish to._

_I have been in Hogsmeade, and have seen you with Miss Granger. For this I am also proud of you. She is beautiful and smart and the perfect choice for you._

_Draco, I'd love to write you more, but this scrap of paper is so small that I fear if I don't say it soon, I won't have the room to write what I'd originally meant to._

_Saturday morning I will be arriving once again in Hogsmeade, in the cave. I wish to see you then. I completely understand if this isn't what you want, and I'll never write you again if you don't come. I just want to see your face again, and I hope you will see me._

_I am running low on both ink and parchment, so I must say goodbye now. Goodbye, my Draco, and I miss you horribly._

_Your ever loving mum_

Draco was ready to cry when he'd reached the end. Tears of both happiness and sadness. Yes, he would go on Saturday, and he'd bring her back to the castle and have Dumbledore find her somewhere to live. That's what he'd do.

He was halfway out of the stall when he remembered a bit of crucial information: tomorrow was Saturday. Tomorrow would be another meeting.

He shook his head. He'd just have to make up an excuse not to go. He'd give Harry the body guarding rights for the night.

He shoved the letter into the pocket of his cloak and exited the bathroom. He glanced around before finding a Gryffindor he knew was in he and Hermione's next class.

"You!" Draco said. He let out a few practice coughs before he began walking toward the redhead.

The Gryffindor raised his eyebrows as he met Draco half-way. "Yeah?"

"Your name is Jimmy, right?" Draco asked quietly, trying to make himself sound sick.

"Er...yeah..." the boy eyed Draco. "Do you need a drink?"

"Er, I was on my way," Draco replied quickly. "Listen, I need you to tell Hermione that I'm sick and going to the Hospital Wing. Got it?"

"Granger?" Jimmy answered. Draco nodded. "Sure. You need help getting to the Hospital Wing?"

Draco shook his head. "No, no. I'm fine. Don't forget!"

"I won't. Er...feel better."

"Thanks," Draco said quickly before he walked past the boy and towards the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey was extremely skeptical, but when she saw his eyes were red from holding in tears, she felt a little bit of pity for the boy and allowed him to go back to his dorm to rest, sending out a note to all of his teachers, excusing him from class.

If Hermione knew he was sick, she'd probably insist he stay back from the meeting. It was the perfect plan!

He spent the day thinking about what he'd say when he saw her. He could hardly stand having to wait an entire day before he got to see his mother! He went to a boarding school, for Slytherin's sake-he should have been able to control his homesickness by now. But know that she was so close was killing him.

He also thought of Hermione. He hated lying to her. But if he told the truth, she'd probably make him come to the meeting, making up some excuse like it was a trap, or insist that she come with. He decided he'd tell her when she got back on Sunday.

Thinking of Hermione's excused brought up something else-what if it was a trap? Then he'd be risking not only his life, but Hermione's. If it were a trap, it would most definitely be for Hermione. Everything was about capturing Hermione these days.

But he shook his head. He'd know his mothers handwriting anywhere. And she wouldn't be a part of a plot that involved capturing him...she loved him too much! Didn't she?

Draco skipped lunch. Hermione returned during lunch time to bring him his homework from the first class of the day and to bring him some water and bread. She returned again after supper with more homework, Draco having already finished that of his first half of the day.

She dropped his homework on his bedside table and sat herself down on the bed beside him, placing a feather-light hand on his forehead.

"You feeling alright?"

Draco's stomach clenched with guilt.

"Fine. Now that you're here."

She grinned and kissed his forehead. "I think you should stay home tomorrow, okay?"

He lied again. "But I have to go!"

She shook her head. "Sh...it's okay, don't make a fuss, you'll make yourself fait. Harry can be my body guard? Okay?"

He nodded, trying to look dejected, and she kissed him before leaving.

He shouldn't have felt so triumphant about lying to her.

...

Hope you liked it, guys! ^^ Please, tell me what you think!


	28. Chapter 28

As you may have noticed, my new name is DominoTyler. ^^

Hermione left early the next morning. She was leaving just as Draco was waking up. It was better that way, he decided.

Getting up as quickly as he could, trying to be quiet for a reason he couldn't understand, Draco was dressed and ready within the next ten minutes. He quickly packed his backpack and set off from the heads commons.

Harry wasn't the only one who knew of Hogwarts' secret passages. He had discovered several when he was trying to escape Pansy's or Crabbe's or Goyle's constant attention. One of them, he knew, would take him straight to the fenced area around the Shrieking Shack. From there he could simply walk to the cave and see his mother.

His stomach was churning the entire time he was passing through the tunnel. It was cramped and suffocating. He wished he had Hermione with him. He just sighed and continued climbing through the tunnel, nearing the end with every step. He could see it now.

He shivered when he stepped out into the light. It was cold and the light reflecting off of the snow was blinding. He stumbled around a few seconds before he had the mind to close the tunnel and find his way to the cave. He was shivering with excitement and cold.

The snow crunched beneath his feet, and the wind whirled through his ears, but he still heard her call. "Draco?"

His head perked up and he stopped for a split second, staring at the entrance to the cave. "Mum?" He called.

"Draco!" The call sounded frightened, but what came next confused him even more. "Draco, leave! Run as fast as you can! You're safe at Hogwarts, go!"

He kicked himself whenever he thought back on it, but instead of taking the rushed advice, he hurried towards the cave.

"No, Draco!"

Something struck him in the chest. As he was falling backwards, a tug came at his chest, he fell forward, and was dragged into the cave.

The first thing he saw was his mother bound and leaning in a bloody heap at the back of the cave. This made him look upon everything else with rage-the Death Eater holding her by the hair, the Death Eater holding the rope now tied around him, the other Death Eaters scattered about the room, and, most importantly, his father.

"Good morning, son," the man he hated said in a sickeningly smug tone. He grinned down at Draco, whose rage was building with every second.

"What are you doing here?" Draco snapped.

"He intercepted the letter, Draco!" his mother half-sobbed, half-coughed out. "I'm so sorry, it's my fault! I-"

"Shut up!" the Death Eater hissed, pulling his fistful of her hair backwards.

Draco elicited a small growling noise he wasn't aware humans were capable of creating, and he angrily tried to rip free of the ropes binding him.

"It's useless to try and escape, Little Draco."

Draco closed his eyes as what felt like icicles pooled in his stomach. He had dreaded she might be the reason he was here.

But Bellatrix pranced into the cave anyways, despite Draco's urgent hoping that she might just be a figment of his imagination. She smirked down at Draco, who wished he could just spit on her. Or do something much more violent and disrespectful, all at the same time.

"You're not leaving until we have the girl."

Draco swallowed hard. This wasn't happening.

...

"Hermione!"

It was Sirius who threw his arm around her shoulder and led her swiftly into the living room.

Hermione laughed. "Hello, Sirius. Is there something you needed?"

"Just wondering how Draco's doing on his mission," Sirius replied, looking around, trying to find the blonde boy amongst the bustle of arriving Order members.

"He's doing wonderfully," Hermione replied. "He's even joined the DA so he can be watching me more often."

"I see," Sirius continued. "So...where is he?"

Hermione sighed. "I'm afraid he's sick in bed. He missed all day yesterday and barely ate a thing. I couldn't let him come today. I wanted him to rest."

"I see," Sirius repeated. He looked at her carefully. By now, they were seated by each other on the sofa, and the way Sirius was watching her at such a close proximity was making Hermione a bit uncomfortable.

"Yes?" she said to speed up the moment.

"And how is your part of the mission going?"

Hermione shrugged after a small moment of thought. "Well enough, I suppose. He seems happy. And he recently told me everything. He trusts me now, and I don't think he plans on harming himself or anything. I think he's...content now. Though he has been talking about his mother a lot. I think he misses her."

Sirius grinned. "Mission accomplished, then. His mother recently broke away from the Death Eaters. All we have to do is find her and bring her here."

"Just like that?" Hermione questioned. "No interrogation?"

"Of course there will be," Sirius replied. "But at least he'll get to see her. Narcissa was always the kindest of my cousins. I understand why he might miss her. I don't think she was ever too involved, anyways."

Hermione nodded just as Remus beckoned them all into the kitchen for supper. Hermione brought along her notes and her quill, readying herself for any discussion that may happen during supper.

After supper was when the real meeting began.

"It is very unfortunate that Draco isn't here," Remus said, "because this news would be beneficial especially for him."

Hermione froze in her writing. That meant whatever this was must have been about her protection.

"We have recently received intelligence that the Death Eaters plan to attack Hermione through Draco."

"What do you mean?" Hermione said, raising her hand a bit out of habit.

Remus gave her a small, sympathetic smile. "I wouldn't be worried. Draco Malfoy is too smart a boy to fall for any of the Death Eater's tricks."

"Unless he's lying," Ron muttered.

"What is that supposed to mean, Ronald?" Hermione snapped.

He shrugged, staring at his lap. He was slouched deep in his chair, and hadn't said a single thing the entire meeting.

"I don't know," Ron replied. "Doesn't it seem a little weird that they know Draco's guarding you? How would they know unless he told them? And maybe he wanted this all along. Maybe getting the position was just a plus. Maybe he was going to turn you in the whole time."

"He wouldn't do that!" Hermione said angrily. "Draco hates his father-why would he do anything that might help him?"

"She's got a point, mate," Sirius said. "I would never do anything to help my father."

Ron shrugged. "Just saying what I think 's all."

Hermione sighed. Then a thought occurred to her. "Do you think they made him sick? To get to me?"

"They wouldn't do something so simple, would they?" Harry asked.

"Anything's possible, Harry," Mr. Weasley said. "Maybe someone should go back to check on Draco with Hermione. You were still planning on doing that, correct?"

Hermione nodded. "After the meeting."

"Then let's get to it," Remus said.

And with that, they simply continued.

...

Blaise Zabini was a bit worried about his friend. Draco wasn't the type to just fall ill. And when he did turn out sick, he usually ignored it. So this must have been pretty bad.

So, after lunch on Saturday, Blaise went to visit his friend. Having learned the password from Hermione in case he wanted to check on Draco, he pushed through the door and looked around. The room was empty, but Blaise hadn't really expected to see anybody. It was only Draco here, and he was probably in bed, anyways.

So Blaise turned right after passing by the coffee table and headed towards Draco's room. The "click" that sounded as he opened the door was deafeningly loud.

The room was empty.

Trying not to freak himself out, knowing all of the possible things that could have happened to him, he went through all of the possible places he could be in his head. He resolved to first check the Hospital Wing, and turned to go straight there.

...

Back at the meeting, Hermione and Sirius were preparing to return to check on Draco. The Order had convinced her that it would best if she brought someone with her, and Sirius had volunteered, wanting to have the chance to make fun of Draco in such a lowly state. Hermione finally resigned to let him come, and they floo'd to Hogwarts.

"Ah, this place takes me back," Sirius said with a sigh, looking around the cold, dark walls of Hogwarts. He examined an old tapestry of a lion and laughed. "You'll never guess what I did in the alcove behind that tapestry," Sirius said, laughing.

"I don't want to know," Hermione said, still walking determinedly towards the Heads Dorms.

Sirius shrugged. "Suit yourself. You know, I can name someone I'd like to do things like that to again."

"I'm sure you can," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

He chuckled and followed her in silence the rest of the way to the dorms. They had no idea what was awaiting them there.

...

Hey, everyone! So sorry it's been taking so long in between chapters! :/ I'll try and get better with this.


	29. Chapter 29

Hermione said the password and entered the dorm, Sirius following behind her. He whistled. "Nice place. A lot nicer than when James and Lily were the Heads."

Hermione shrugged distractedly and made her way towards Draco's room, feeling more and more anxious and excited to see him with every step she took. But when she opened the door...he was no where to be found.

Just in case, she called out, "Draco?"

There was no answer.

"Draco?" she called once more.

Still no answer. She cautiously entered the room. Oh, Merlin, she had feared this. It must have been what they'd been talking about, the Death Eater's coming after her through Draco. She began breathing rather heavily as she started searching the room for any sign of what might have happened.

"You alright, doll?" Sirius asked, poking his head in. "Where's Malfoy?"

"I don't know!" Hermione exclaimed. "I don't know where he could have gone!"

"Well, calm down," Sirius replied, stepping into the room with his hands on his hips. He looked a little worried himself underneath it all. "I'm sure nothing bad has happened. Maybe he went to the hospital wing? Or maybe he's visiting Minnie? I know I could never resist her."

Hermione gave him a weird look before she shook her head and began nearly tearing apart Draco's room in search of her blonde boyfriend. "No, he knew I was coming to check on him...Oh, Merlin, and I'm even late! Where could he have gotten off to?"

"Hey, what's this?"

Hermione looked up from beneath Draco's bed in time to see Sirius kneeling down to pick up a small scrap of parchment. He skimmed it before handing it to a quickly approaching Hermione. "You might want to read this."

She snatched it from his grasp and read it over. She was horrified. Was Draco stupid enough to fall for this? Of course it was a trap!

She flipped it over to make sure she'd read everything. The backside was blank, but as she was about to turn it back around so she could go and save that idiot, she spotted something. A little red mark. She was about to simply pass it off as an ink spot, but soon that spot began to grow. It grew from the centre, words and punctuation unfurling until she could decipher the hidden message, scrawled in neat cursive and by way of red ink. The handwriting was the same of that which had been carved into her arm. As she read the note, that very patch of skin, now bearing her blood status, began to tingle.

_Mudblood,_

_If you are reading this, you are now aware that your precious boyfriend has been kidnapped. If you wish for him to not be harmed, I would come to the specific location outlined in the adorable letter written by my sister to her darling son, intercepted by me. Come alone and before nine, or face the consequences. You know what we wish to use you for._

_Bellatrix Lestrange_

The ends of each letter seemed to Hermione like knife points, stabbing her as she read, causing her to bleed the very ink from the paper. Her eyes stung. What was she going to do?

"Hermione, what is that?"

Sirius took back the note and read the hidden message, meant only for her. H crumpled the letter and dropped it in the doorframe. He swore loudly.

"I'm going," Hermione said, pushing past the older man.

"Oh, I don't think so," Sirius replied, grasping Hermione's wrist as she tried to leave.

"Let me go!" she said, trying to yank herself away from him.

"Why?" Sirius demanded, sounding dangerous. "So you can go and get yourself killed? Not to mention get all of the Order's information stolen and used against us? Not going to happen."

"So what do you propose we do?" Hermione demanded.

"We go and fetch the rest of the Order and all attack together," Sirius tried to reason.

"You read the note-there's no time!" Hermione exclaimed. "Plus, I have to go alone. I don't want to even know what the 'consequences' are."

"They don't have any consequences set up because they know you're going to come!" Sirius let out an odd half-laugh, half-growl. "You're just doing exactly what they want you to do!"

Hermione groaned, knowing he was right, but not ready to give up. She had to save Draco.

Sirius thought she was giving up, and loosened his grip. As soon as he had let go enough, Hermione ripped away and shot off out of the room and down the hall, straight to the same tunnel Draco had used.

"Hermione!" Sirius roared, chasing after her. But she had done a lot more recent running for her life, and was half-way through the tunnel before Sirius had managed to catch up with her.

When he had made it close enough for the two to speak together, he said, "At least let me come with you."

"Sirius, they want me alone."

"Are you stupid?" he whispered. "If you go alone, you're both goners. I'm coming with you, and that's final. I'll only show up when things get bad, I promise."

Hermione sighed, but nodded and continued climbing down the tunnel.

They soon made it out of the tunnel. They weren't even given a moment to catch their breath or allow their eyes to adjust to the sunlight, when they were suddenly blasted with fifty different spells and knocked completely unconscious.

Meanwhile, Blaise was returning to the dorm. No one had seen Draco all day, and he wasn't in the hospital wing. He just couldn't understand where Draco might have gone.

He decided to check the bedroom again, thinking that his experience earlier might have somehow been a dream, and Draco had been in there all along.

He had no such luck, but something was much different about the room. It had been completely ransacked.

"Oh, no," Blaise mumbled, moving to step into the room. Something crinkled beneath his foot, and he moved to pick up the piece of parchment. Quickly un-crinkling it, he scanned it over. He flipped over the note, and, horrified, ran from the castle, up to Dumbledore's office, knowing the password from a previous encounter, and he took a handful of floo powder from the jar on the mantle. He threw it into the fireplace and said breathlessly, "Number 12 Grimmauld Place!"

He had to warn the Order.

As he tumbled into the kitchen, the occupants of the room jumped to their feet. It appeared each of them were currently preparing to resign to their bedrooms. He was glad he'd caught them.

"Who's in charge?" he exclaimed.

Remus glanced around before getting to his feet. "I'd say that is me, Mr. Zabini. What is the meaning of this?"

"It's Draco and Hermione, Professor," Blaise said, moving around the table to hand Remus the letter. Remus read it over. "And the back."

Remus's eyes grew wide. When he had finished, he glanced at his watch, set down the paper and pulled on his jacket. "I need three people to come with me. Harry, Blaise, you two will do. Come along, don't dally. We have to go, _now_."

The group ran outside and quickly apparated into the town of Hogsmeade, hoping with all they had that they weren't too late.

...

Kind of short...sorry. :( But it's a chapter, and not too far away from the previous one! I hope you enjoyed, but I won't know unless you press that sexy little blue button that says "Review." Who knows, maybe it'll grant you a wish if you press it and review? It only works if you press submit. ^^

Just kidding. Only review if you want to. I have no control over you. Actually, I could just deny you chapters...but I'm not cruel, and I love writing. ^^

Anyways, until next time, do what you want and I'll be writing! ^^


	30. Chapter 30

I'm too lazy to go in and change it but...I wrote that Remus said "I need three people." I only chose Harry and Blaise...haha! Yeah, I meant two. ^^

...

The remaining members of the Order sat in stunned silence after the three left. Snape was the first to come to his senses, picking up the abandoned note and reading it once over.

"It appears that Draco fell for a trap, leading Miss Granger in as well, just as we'd been discussing earlier."

Ron snatched the letter from Snape and read it over. "I think he did it on purpose."

"What do you mean, Ron?" Ginny asked, rubbing her eyes. She had been preparing for bed when Blaise had appeared.

"I mean this was all a trap for Hermione," Ron said, throwing down the letter and standing up. "I mean, think about it. He's Draco Malfoy. Look at who his father is! This letter is obviously a fake. He's probably just sitting with all of those Death Eater's right now, catching up on the latest Order news while they wait for Hermione to show up so they can kill her!"

"You can't prove that," Mrs. Weasley said. "He seemed like such a nice boy. He was so nice to Hermione..."

"It was just an act!" Ron exclaimed.

"You're just upset because Draco has Hermione and you don't!" Ginny exclaimed, also getting to her feet. "You need to let it go, Ron!"

"That's enough, you two," said Mr. Weasley, standing. "Go to bed, the both of you."

They both grumbled and protested weakly, but each climbed the stairs and headed to their bedrooms in silence.

"Now," said Mr. Weasley. "What should we do while we wait for the others to return?"

"I think it'd be best if we simply...waited for them to return," Snape said, picking up the letter to read once again. "It seems as if Narcissa had no idea that the letter would be intercepted. Is it not true that she ran away not long ago?"

"That is correct," Kingsley replied.

"Then this is solely the work of her sister, Bellatrix, and her husband, Lucius," Snape said, placing the letter on the table. "I can't see this as a trap set up by Draco. It appears to me that he and his mother were innocent in this whole plot."

"I think you're right," Tonks said. "I saw nothing wrong with Draco in the days he stayed with us. He seems thoroughly changed."

Snape nodded. "So...I suppose we wait for their return. We must stay here and answer to any distress call."

He took his seat at the table and they did just as he'd said they should do-they waited.

...

_Golden stars are out tonight_

_Dreams have a chance of being born anew_

_Yet mine have been put on hold with your flight_

_And our plans for the future are now askew_

_You have been taken_

_And am I mistaken_

_In my hope that everything shall work out?_

_Your thoughts are my thoughts_

_My heart is yours_

_Somewhere a dying dream rots_

_And in it's place a better one soars_

_Hope and love are all I have in this fight_

_And as long as I remember THAT night_

_I'll find you without a doubt._

Hermione was tired. She couldn't open her eyes, she couldn't feel, but she could think. All of her thoughts dwelled on Draco. She hoped he was okay. She hoped they weren't hurting him. She hoped that she could stop them before they did anything too awful.

Because she knew now that she loved him, and she just _had _to tell him. She had to fight so she could tell him.

She was so lost without knowing that Draco was alright. Lately he'd been keeping her safe, but now that he was gone, everything seemed messed up. She just hoped that wherever she ended up, Draco would be there and she could save him, if only for the selfish reasons of telling him she was in love.

...

Draco, despite his decision to stop, was near tears again. Not long after he'd arrived, he'd been bound and tortured for information. Once they'd decided that he was of no use except to lure Hermione to the cave, they'd thrown him into the corner with his mother.

Hours had gone by before anything happened again. He and his mother were trying to communicate without the use of words, since any word uttered meant severe punishment.

Draco could hardly handle this pain. After attempting to fight his way out and save his mum, despite knowing he was basically a dead man already, he had been tortured endlessly and demanded of information. He knew he had to fight, though. He wasn't giving up without a fight.

Now, sitting so helplessly in the corner of a cave, knowing that his girlfriend would be showing up soon and that she would be the second person that he loved to be killed all because of him, he could hardly stand the pain of thought, of simply being alive. At that moment, the moment when he heard Hermione shriek in terror, he didn't even want to be alive anymore.

He winced as he watched Hermione being brutally dragged through the snow and ice, her face already covered in blood, and dropped recklessly onto the middle of the cave.

Bellatrix approached her with what Draco hoped wasn't a knife. He had no such luck, though, when to wake her up, Bellatrix slashed the silver dagger across Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione screamed as she awoke. She jumped up, wincing from what was presumably pain.

"Where's Sirius?" she groaned. "Where's Draco?"

"My idiot cousin is out back," Bellatrix replied, stepping a few feet back from Hermione. "I let my men do whatever they felt necessary to him before they killed him. As for Draco...well, why don't you see for yourself?"

Bellatrix moved aside to allow Hermione to see her bloodied boyfriend. Her jaw dropped, but she jumped to her feet and pulled her wand from her pocket, aiming it at Bellatrix. Bellatrix only laughed and shrieked, "Expelliarmus!" Hermione's wand flew to the other side of the room.

"Now," she said once she'd forced Hermione to the floor. "Why don't you be a good little Gryffindor and tell me what I want to know? I want to know what the Order knows about our plans. I'm already being kind enough in not killing both you and Draco because you decided to go against my rules and bring that idiot. So why don't you just tell me everything."

"...no!" Hermione managed to force out painfully.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix screamed madly. "You don't even understand, do you! Why are you still fighting? Draco doesn't love you! He _lead _you here!"

No! Why did she have to drag him into this?

"Don't listen to her, Hermione!" Draco yelled. "She's lying!"

"Hey, you, shut your yap!" one of the Death Eaters exclaimed, stamping on Draco's face, breaking his nose.

Hermione rolled her head to the side and looked Draco directly in the eyes. Their gaze broke when she was once again struck by the Cruciatus curse, and a scream ripped from her throat.

"Tell me!" exclaimed Bellatrix. "Does the Order know what we're planning?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione whispered.

"You liar," Bellatrix hissed. "You're their notetaker. Of course you know what I'm talking about."

Hermione's screams rang out again. Draco was wincing. He turned his face away, toward his mother.

And there she was, attempting to stand. Everyone was focusing in on Hermione, so Narcissa went by unnoticed as she slid across the room, her arms tied. She knelt down and picked up Hermione's wand, keeping an eye on the room's occupants. The rope around her wrist slid off, and she weakly tried to move closer.

And then, her spell rang out, and Bellatrix, shocked, tumbled over, dead.

"Narcissa!" Lucius shouted, turning to slap her.

She managed one more "_Avada kedavra!" _before she completely collapsed.

The Death Eaters were confused. They had no idea what to do now that their leaders had been killed. Their first thought was to stop Narcissa.

But Hermione managed to get shakily to her feet and pick up the wand Bellatrix had dropped. Aiming it at Draco, she untied him, just in time for him to point his father's wand at the Death Eaters, stopping them from attacking his mother. He couldn't kill them, but knocking them out was all he needed to do.

As soon as he'd made sure his mom was okay, propping her up against the wall, he rushed to Hermione, who was getting weaker and weaker by the second. She fell into his chest, and he sat down, pulling her close. She was crying.

"Draco!" she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I know," he whispered, brushing back her hair. "I know, love. It's all my fault. If I hadn't come..."

She was shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. You're safe. You're safe."

He nodded, panting. He was so exhausted.

"Draco, I..." her voice was getting weaker. She was slipping into unconsciousness. "Draco, I love you..."

She slipped away before Draco could respond.

He was shocked. But she was his. So he replied, "I love you, too."

Remus, Harry and Blaise ran in, wands at the ready. They stopped when they realised that everything was finished. The only job left was to get the three to safety.

...

Hope you enjoyed! Please, leave me a review, tell me what you think!

The poem, in italics, was written for my by the wonderful leafysummers, a great reviewer and a good friend of mine. It's meant to be Hermione's thoughts. Thank you, leafysummers! ^^


	31. Chapter 31

Dear MysteryGirl the anonymous reviewer: don't worry! I don't do that. Plus, you wouldn't want to read any smut I wrote, anyways. I wouldn't be very good at it...

Also, MysteryGirl, congratulations! You made my night by blessing me with my 300th review! ^^

...

Hermione woke up to a dull pain aching throughout her entire body. It was the worst in her head, and she hated it. Rolling over, she moaned. Her heart dropped to her stomach and her eyes popped wide as she inhaled her lungs, realising there was no more bed where she currently was. In the next second she was on the floor, moaning over her new bruises.

She heard slight laughter before someone came forward and helped her up. It was Harry.

Hermione smiled at him. "Thank you," she said. Or tried to, as her voice seemed to have disappeared.

"No problem," he replied as he helped her back into bed.

She sighed as she settled into bed and looked around. It seemed everyone else was awake. Draco and his mother were sitting closely and talking to each other. They both looked the happiest she'd ever seem them.

"What happened?" Hermione asked. "How'd I get here?"

"Narcissa killed Lucius and Bellatrix," Sirius exclaimed. "I wish I could have been there to see it. I was too busy having the shite kicked out of me."

"That's right! How did you get away?"

Sirius began the epilogue to his heroic tale of escape, but before he could praise himself too much, Remus broke in.

"It was the reason we were so late to come and save you, Hermione," Remus said, earning a glare from Sirius. "We saw Sirius being attacked and assumed you were with him. It took ten minutes to take out the Death Eaters attacking him, and then we were too late coming to save you."

"But at least we had Mrs. Malfoy," Blaise said, smiling at Hermione. "She's the real hero, I think."

Narcissa smiled softly. "I was only doing what I should have done a long, long time ago. And even though I'm sad my sister and husband are gone, I know it's better this way. The world is safe and I don't have to live knowing that they're in Azkaban and can escape sometime in the future. I don't need that fear."

Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly. "Speaking of Azkaban... It's protocol that you're questioned by an official from the ministry before we can clear you of the charges against you. Once your name has been cleared, you're completely welcome to live in my humble home."

She smiled. "I figured that would happen, and I'll be happy to peacefully answer any questions they have for me. And thank you, that's very kind of you. I'll think about your offer. For the time being, would someone mind taking me to the ministry?"

Remus and Kingsley took Narcissa to the ministry. Harry, Blaise, Ginny and Ron returned to Hogwarts with Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall, but Hermione and Draco were staying at Number 12 for a few more days until they were well enough to travel. Hermione suffered from severe blood loss and a minor concussion, while Draco had three broken ribs and a broken arm. He magically moved his bed right up against Hermione's so it created a double bed, and he scooted in closer to her.

"I can't even begin to express how sorry I am that this happened to you," he whispered, stroking her hair with his good arm.

Hermione smiled into his chest. "Really, Draco, I don't blame you," she replied. "I mean, look at it this way-only good came of it. Bellatrix and Lucius are dead, and you have your mother back."

"But you've got so many new scars and injuries," Draco said. "Not to mention this can't help your nightmares. Or mine, for that matter. Hermione, you're too good to me. It's completely my fault."

She sighed. "If I told you it was your fault, would you feel better and drop it?"

He nodded.

"Good," she said. "Then I blame it all on you. Great job, Draco. You ruined the entire weekend!"

He chuckled. "Harsh," he mumbled, kissing her forehead.

"You think so? I was just being honest."

"Brutally so."

Hermione laughed and snuggled a little closer. "I love you."

Butterflies shot through Draco. It was annoying and beautiful all at the same time. "And I love you, Hermione."

Hermione grinned. This was the first she'd heard him say it, and she hoped with all she had that it wouldn't be the last.

...

Hermione and Draco returned to school that Tuesday. Draco's ribs and arm had been healed by then, and the only thing keeping Hermione at Number 12 was Draco and Mrs. Weasley's worrying. Draco said goodbye to his mother, but promised to come visit every weekend, and the two of them floo'd to Hogwarts just in time for breakfast.

Draco sat with Hermione at the Gryffindor table while they ate. The two finished early, and were going to drop their things off in their dorm before class, when someone stopped them.

"Granger, Malfoy!"

Hermione spun around, immediately enveloped by two scrawny arms.

"Pansy!" Hermione exclaimed. "Er, Blaise, Theo! How are you guys?"

"We were worried about you!" Pansy exclaimed, taking a few steps back and looking between Draco and Hermione, grinning.

"Well, she was," Blaise said. "I tried to explain that you were going to be okay."

Pansy ignored him. "What, were you just going to leave without saying hello to me? I spent an entire two sleepless nights hoping my best friends were okay, and this is the thanks I get? I'm insulted."

"You're always insulted, Pansy," Draco said, rolling his eyes. He smirked. "Maybe we just didn't want to talk to you. Anyways, I have to go talk to Professor Flitwick before my first class. Coming, Hermione?"

"Actually, I need to have a private word with Hermione, if you don't mind," Pansy said.

Draco glanced at Hermione, who nodded. He kissed her forehead. "I love you," he said before departing. He'd been taking advantage of that phrase quite a lot recently.

Pansy's eyes grew wide. "You've moved on to _love_?" she asked.

Hermione sighed elatedly before nodded and biting her lip. "Yeah. But what did you need to talk about?"

"Come with us," she replied, taking Hermione's hand. The four of them walked through the castle, down towards the dungeons, until they ended up in a room very familiar to Hermione.

"We're here to talk about your task," Pansy said.

Hermione almost didn't know what she was talking about. "Right."

"You've succeeded," Blaise said with a grin.

"I have?"

"He's happy," Pansy replied, also grinning. "He's smiling again. Cracking jokes, using sarcasm and that awful, biting wit that just gets us every time. He's not moping around. So, yes. You've succeeded."

"Well...good...then," Hermione replied. "What now?"

"You get your money," Theo replied, pulling out a leather bag filled with coins of all sizes. Hermione's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No," she said. "I absolutely refuse. No money, remember? I did this because I wanted to, not for money. And besides, I was happy to help. I'm happy I _did _help."

"But we promised," Blaise said, taking the bag from Theo. "You have to take it. You can't make us go against our promise."

"Yes I can," she replied. "I refuse. I won't take it."

Pansy took the bag from Blaise and thrust it into Hermione's hands. "Just _take it_ already! Spend it on the both of you if it makes you feel better."

Hermione sighed. "Fine, I'll take it. Thank you."

"No," Blaise said. "Thank you."

Hermione smiled at them, glad she had them as friends. She was glad she had decided not to chicken out. She was glad she decided to come and see what Blaise wanted, answering that note that had landed on her book what seemed so long ago. She was glad what it had led to-a completely new life. Without finding Draco's happiness, she might not have even found her own. So for that, she was happy.

After all of their classes that night, the two of them crept off to Hogsmeade, after getting permission from McGonagall, who felt awful regarding what had happened to them, and allowed them to go and get a treat for themselves. They wound up at the Three Broomsticks and bought dinner.

"No, no, no," Hermione said as Draco reached for his pocket. He raised an eyebrow. "I'll pay."

She pulled out several coins and dropped them on the table, telling Madam Rosmerta to keep the change. As they left the building, Draco turned to Hermione, eyes wide.

"Where'd you get all of that money?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Pansy gave it to me."

"Why?"

She sighed. "Because of my 'task.' Remember, I was supposed to make you happy?"

He nodded.

"I didn't. I completely forgot until this morning when they refused to let me go to class unless I accepted all of this money as payment for making you happy again. I tried to refuse. I was happy to make you happy."

Draco couldn't help but grin at that.

"I'm glad they paid you," Draco said. "Because I don't know if I'll ever be able to pay you back for doing this. I can't imagine what life would be like without you, Hermione. I don't want to think about it. You got me here, Hermione, and for that I thank you."

She smiled. They had stopped walking by now, and were just standing, staring at each other.

It was then that they realised what was happening.

"Mistletoe," Hermione said.

Draco barely even glanced up. "They must have left it there from Christmas."

And in one fell swoop, Draco kissed her.

"I love you," he said. "Without you, my life would be just a disaster."

"You are a disaster," Hermione replied, smiling. "But you're a beautiful one."

"A beautiful disaster."

...

_Oh 'cause I don't know_

_I don't know what he's after_

_But he's so beautiful_

_Such a beautiful disaster_

_And if I could hold on_

_Through the tears and the laughter_

_Would it be beautiful?_

_Or just a beautiful disaster_

_He's beautiful_

_Such a beautiful disaster_

...

Aw. To be honest, I wasn't even expecting it to be over. So, I shall write an epilogue! (Or, if you ask, maybe even a couple more chapters! You know...learn more about Ron and Lavender's break-up, where Narcissa will go, Sirius and his lack of pants. But only if you review and ask nicely!) ^^

If you liked this story, then please check out my other ones! They're all happy endings such as this. ^^

Also, I need reviews! Tell me if you liked this or if you didn't. Tell me what you might have changed. Tell me why you stuck through to the end. Tell me what you would like to see me write the next time. Tell me if you want more chapters. All of these things can lead to better stories for you from me!

Thank you, all you lovely people, for the beautiful reviews, for putting me on your favourites and alerts, for putting my story on favourites and alerts. You people make my life happy. ^^

Yours truly,

DominoTyler


	32. Epilogue

I must warn you...I listened to Moves Like Jagger on repeat the entire time I was writing this... So try not to die from epicness.

Jk! It's up to you to decide whether or not it's epic. ^^

...

Draco swore. Hermione glared at him. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"You should be!" Hermione exclaimed. "Look what you've done. You burned the entire meal!"

He laughed. "Well, you shouldn't have had very high expectations. If you recall, this is the only time I've ever cooked _anything_."

Hermione rolled her eyes, going to the window to let in the owl currently tapping away at the window inside. She took the letter from his leg and offered him a treat. She stroked his chin and then he was off.

"Was that Sirius's owl?" Draco asked, getting up from the floor where he'd been trying to scrub away the scorch marks.

Hermione nodded absently, reading as quickly as she could.

"Looks like it doesn't matter that you destroyed dinner," she said, handing him the letter. "We've got an Order meeting."

Draco sighed. "We're on a mission in America and they still demand our presence? How do they expect us to get anything done?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed. "If you recall," she said, imitating the words he'd used earlier, "this isn't a mission. It's our _honeymoon_."

Draco smiled and wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist, hugging her close to him. He kissed the top of her head, smelling that smell that was solely Hermione. He could be content standing in this position for the rest of his entire life.

They'd been married just yesterday and already they were being called back to work.

Hermione sighed and Draco shifted to allow her to pull away if she wanted to. "We should probably go."

"Does that mean I have to put pants on?" Draco asked with a slight pout.

Hermione laughed. "Sadly. I'll go get changed."

Draco appraised Hermione, standing before him in nothing but her underclothes. "No, I think it's better you stay like this."

Hermione laughed again, her eyes twinkling. "As much as I'd love that, it's not entirely appropriate for an Order meeting. Come on."

He followed her to the bedroom, pulling on a pair of jeans. Hermione threw a light dress over her bra and panties, then slid her feet into a pair of slippers.

"I refuse to wear a shirt," Draco said.

She laughed and shook her head, her mad hair going everywhere. They hadn't felt the need to brush it after showering, finding much more fun things to do instead. It had therefore dried in an insane manner, but Draco didn't really mind. He took her arm and the two of them apparated together.

They were greeted by many excited faces. Sirius was still hungover from the reception the night before. Ron was still pretty quiet. He had broken up with Lavender in hopes that Hermione might take him back. But, considering Hermione and Draco married only a year after graduation, it seemed that wasn't going to happen, and he'd have to find someone else. Harry was still very excited for the both of them, and Ginny was only interested in what had gone on during the wedding night. Narcissa was acting just like Hermione's mother, and it made her feel all warm and loved.

"Sorry for pulling you out of...whatever it is you two were up to," Remus said, taking in their slightly rumpled appearance and their hastily donned lack-of-clothing. He smirked, then shook his head. "But we had some very important news, and needed our notetaker."

Despite what had happened previously because they'd had a single notetaker, Hermione still worked diligently at her job. Even though both Lucius and Bellatrix were gone, there were still plenty of defiant Death Eaters. It seemed the war would never end, but at least they had hope.

"It's alright, as long as there's supper," Hermione said, smiling. "I haven't eaten since last night, and Draco started supper on fire just before we got the owl."

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Have you ever been to a meeting without food?"

They were ushered into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Supper was a pleasant event, but over too quickly. That was when the bad news began.

"Rodolphus Lestrange," Remus said with a sigh. "He's been making it known that he wants both to lead the Death Eaters and avenge his wife's death."

Draco really couldn't blame his uncle. He'd probably go berserk if someone killed Hermione, too. He shifted to watch her work out of the corner of his eye. He smiled, watching that crease form on her forehead as she concentrated, writing away. He reached out and took her left hand, the one not busy with scrawling notes. He saw her mouth form a soft smile as she worked.

"Mr. Malfoy?"

He jumped back to attention, only to see everyone was grinning at him.

Remus smirked. "Please try your best not to distract our notetaker, please."

Draco couldn't help a smirk as he nodded. "Ahem. Sorry, sir."

Remus laughed and continued speaking about how they would have to continue pushing forth in the war. They couldn't give up.

And Draco new that with Hermione at his side, he never would. He'd keep her safe, and together, they could fight this war.

...

Aw. It's really over. :( Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Well, I hope you liked it! Please, tell me what you think! And stay tuned for new stories! ^^


	33. Note

Oh, my gosh people. I am the happiest person on this planet right now. I was going through all my old stories, kind of reminiscing a bit, and was checking out my reviews. That was when I realised that Beautiful Disaster has a current amount of 364 reviews. That's almost one-hundred more than when I ended this story!

To celebrate, I am going to begin the writing of a sequel. I can't guarantee how quickly this one is going to go, or even when it's going to go up, but I promise you that it will be up, and it will be great, because you amazing people deserve it.

Remember, I have no idea when it will be up, but I'm going to start it today. I do have several-SEVERAL-other stories in progress at the moment, but I'm able to multi-task when it comes to writing rather well, so who knows? It might be up even tomorrow.

Once again, THANK YOU! I'm in love with every last reviewer, follower, favourite-er...all of you.

"If the artist does not fling himself, without reflecting, into his work, as Curtis flung himself into the yawning gulf, as the soldier flings himself into the enemy's trenches, and if, once in this crater, he does not work like a miner on whom the walls of his gallery have fallen in; if he contemplates difficulties instead of overcoming them one by one...he is simply looking on at the suicide of his own talent."

- Honore de Balzac


	34. The Sequel is Up!

It seems I forgot to let you all know-the sequel is up! It's called Your Guardian Angel, and it's only got one chapter so far, but I hope it's a good one, and I hope you all enjoy! ^^

Happy new year!


End file.
